R) 


HX64096793 
R1 54.  P6  P94  Proceedings  and  addr 


RECAP 


IN  HONOR 

OF 

LEWIS  STEPHEN  PILCHER 


12  MAY,  1916 


Columbia  Winihtxsiitp 
in  ttie  Cit  j»  of  ^eto  l^orfe 

CoUege  of  ^ftpsficiang  anb  ^urgeong 


3^ef  erence  Xitirarp 


IN  HONOR 

OF 

LEWIS  STEPHEN  PILCHER 


12  MAY,  1916 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Open  Knowledge  Commons 


http://www.archive.org/details/proceedingsaddreOOphil 


PROCEEDINGS  AND  ADDRESSES  AT  THE 
RECEPTION  AND  BANQUET  IN  HONOR  OF 

Dr.  Lewis  Stephen  Pilcher 

IN  CELEBRATION  OF  THE  COMPLETION 
OF  HIS  SERVICES  OF  FIFTY  YEARS  AS 
A  DOCTOR  OF  MEDICINE,  BY  THE  MEDI- 
CAL SOCIETY  OF  THE  COUNTY  OF  KINGS, 
U.  S.  GRANT  POST  NO.  327,  OF  THE  DE- 
PARTMENT OF  NEW  YORK,  GRAND  ARMY 
OF  THE  REPUBLIC,  AND  THE  MONTAUK 
CLUB  OF  BROOKLYN  ON  FRIDAY  EVEN- 
ING, THE  TWELFTH  OF  MAY,  NINE- 
TEEN SIXTEEN,  AT  HOTEL  BOSSERT, 
BROOKLYN,    NEW    YORK 


PRINTED  BY  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 
Washington  Square  Press,  Philadelphia 

1916 


I 

BIOGRAPHICAL  MEMORANDA 


OFFICERS   OF   THE   U.  S.  STEAMER    PENOBSCOT,  MAY,  1 868 
I,  PAYMASTER  HURLBUT;    2,  SURGEON  PILCHER;    3,  ENSIGN  DORTON;   4,  ENGINEER 
morgan;    5,  CHIEF  ENGINEER  MELVILLE;    6,  NAVIGATING  OFFICER  NELSON;    7,  MASTER 
KENNISON 


U.  S.  STEAMER  PENOBSCOT,  IN  THE  HARBOR  OF  KINGSTON,  JAMAICA,  IN  MAY, 
1868.  ONE  OF  THE  90-DAY  GUN-BOATS  BUILT  FOR  BLOCKADE  DUTY  DURING  THE 
WAR   FOR   THE    UNION 


BIOGRAPHICAL  MEMORANDA,  1845-1916 

Lewis  Stephen  Pilcher  was  born  in  Adrian,  Michigan,  July  28, 
1845,  son  of  Elijah  Holmes  Pilcher  and  Phoebe  Maria  (Fisk)  Pilcher. 

He  entered  the  University  of  Michigan  in  1858,  at  the  age  of 
thirteen,  and  was  graduated  as  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  June,  1862,  in  his 
seventeenth  year.  He  is  the  youngest  graduate  on  the  records  of  the 
institution. 

He  pursued  post-graduate  studies  at  his  Alma  Mater  and  received 
his  degree  as  Master  of  Arts  in  June,  1863,  at  the  age  of  seventeen. 
He  then  took  up  medical  studies  at  the  University  of  Michigan.  These 
were  interrupted  by  his  enlistment  as  a  hospital  steward  in  the  U.  S. 
Army  in  February,  1864.  He  served  in  that  capacity  in  Virginia  and 
in  Missouri  until  September,  1865,  when  he  was  mustered  out  of  service 
by  reason  of  the  close  of  the  war.  He  then  resumed  his  medical  studies 
at  the  University  of  Michigan  and  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  on  the  28th  of  March,  1866. 

After  a  brief  period  of  service  as  House  Surgeon  in  the  Harper 
Hospital,  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  he  came  to  New  York  City  and  pursued 
post-graduate  medical  studies,  until  April,  1867,  when  he  was  commis- 
sioned as  an  Assistant  Surgeon  in  the  United  States  Navy. 

He  remained  in  the  medical  service  of  the  Navy  until  April,  1872, 
when,  after  having  been  promoted  to  the  grade  of  Past-Assistant  Sur- 
geon, he  resigned  to  enter  private  practice  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn. 
During  his  naval  service  he  spent  two  years  in  the  West  Indies  and 
received  special  commendation  for  service  on  board  the  United  States 
frigate  Saratoga  during  an  epidemic  of  yellow  fever  on  board  that 
ship  in  the  spring  of  1869. 

While  yet  in  the  naval  service,  in  June,  1870,  he  was  married  to 
Martha  S.  Phillips  of  Brooklyn.  They  have  had  five  children.  His 
oldest  son,  Lewis  F.  Pilcher,  is  State  Architect  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  His  two  younger  sons,  Paul  M.  Pilcher  and  James  T.  Pilcher, 
both  surgeons,  are  at  present  associated  with  him  in  his  work.  One 
daughter,  Martha  Eleanor,  died  in  infancy;  one,  Mrs.  Charles  I. 
DeBevoise,  died  in  1916. 

In  1872  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  attending  physicians  at  the 
Brooklyn  Central  Dispensary,  a  position  which  he  retained  until  the 
following  year  when  he  gave  it  up  to  become  one  of  the  surgeons  in 
the  Outdoor  Department  of  the  Long  Island  College  Hospital,  which 
position  he  retained  for  ten  years. 

9 


From  1872  to  1879  he  occupied  the  position  of  Lecturer  on  Anatomy 
in  the  Reading  Course  of  the  Long  Island  College  Hospital,  and  from 
1879  to  1882  that  of  Adjunct  Professor  of  Anatomy  in  the  Long  Island 
College  Hospital. 

In  1883  his  first  book  was  published  under  the  title  of  "  The  Treat- 
ment of  Wounds,"  issued  by  Wood  &  Co.,  of  New  York. 

In  1885  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Clinical  Surgery  in  the 
New  York  Post  Graduate  Medical  School  and  Hospital,  which  position 
he  held  until  1895. 

From  1879  to  1884  he  maintained  a  private  anatomical  laboratory 
in  collaboration  with  others  of  his  medical  confreres  by  whom  the 
society  termed  the  Brooklyn  Anatomical  and  Surgical  Society  was 
formed.  As  the  result  of  the  activities  of  this  society  during  the 
years  1880,  '81,  '82  and  '83  a  monthly  publication  termed  the  Annals 
of  Anatomy  and  Surgery  was  carried  on. 

In  1881  he  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  hospital  founded  by 
the  gifts  of  Mr.  George  I.  Seney,  under  the  name  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Hospital  of  Brooklyn.  He  prepared  the  preliminary  plans 
and  instructions  to  the  architects  that  were  adopted,  and  remained  as 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Managers  from  its  organization  up  to  1907. 
Upon  the  formation  of  the  Medical  Board  of  the  Hospital  in  1887  he 
was  made  one  of  the  attending  surgeons  and  President  of  the  Medical 
Board,  a  position  which  he  occupied  until  1907. 

In  1884  he  began  the  publication  of  a  monthly  journal  devoted  to 
surgery  under  the  title  of  The  Annals  of  Surgery,  which  has  continued 
to  appear  without  intermission  from  that  time  to  the  present  and  is 
now  in  its  62nd  volume. 

He  was  elected  President  of  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society 
for  1892. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Council  of  the  Surgical  Section  of  the 
Third  International  Congress  of  Medicine  held  in  1887. 

Was  Honorary  Chairman  of  the  Section  of  Anatomy  of  the  Pan- 
American  Medical  Congress  in  1893. 

Was  Vice-President  of  the  American  Surgical  Association  in  1893 
and  again  in  1914. 

He  was  President  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  County  of  Kings 
in  1900. 

He  has  contributed  chapters  to  the  following  encyclopaedic  medical 
works : 

"  American  System  of  Diseases  of  Children,"  Keating,  1889. 

"  Reference  Hand  Book  of  Medical  Science,"  Wm.  Wood  &  Co., 
1887. 

"  The  American  Text  Book  of  Surgery,"  Keen  &  White,  1892. 

10 


"  The  American  System  of  Surgery,"  Dennis,  1895. 

"  The  International  System  of  Surgery,"  Warren-Gould,  1900. 

"  Text  Book  of  Surgical  Diagnosis  and  Treatment,"  Ochsner,  1916. 

Author  of  many  monographs  and  pamphlets  on  medical  and 
surgical  subjects. 

Has  published  two  volumes  of  essays  and  addresses  :  "  Odium  Medi- 
cum,"  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company,  191 1,  and  "  The  Commander's  Year," 
J.  B.  Lippincott  Company,  1914. 

Surgeon  to  the  German  Hospital  from  1900  to  1908.  Consulting 
Surgeon  since  1908. 

Consulting  Surgeon  to  St.  John's  Hospital ;  to  the  Norwegian  Hos- 
pital ;  to  the  Jewish  Hospital ;  to  the  Bethany  Deaconess  Hospital ;  to 
the  Skin  and  Cancer  Hospital  of  New  York;  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Home  for  the  Aged  of  Brooklyn. 

Member  of  the  Aertzliche  Collegium  of  the  German  Hospital  of 
Brooklyn,  since  1900. 

Member  of  the  Advisory  Committee  of  the  Greenpoint  Hospital. 

Member  of  the  Board  of  Medical  Examiners  of  the  State  of  New 
York  since  191 3. 

Was  the  Anniversary  Orator  before  the  New  York  Academy  of 
Medicine  in  1899. 

In  1900  was  honored  by  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  both  from 
his  Alma  Mater,  the  University  of  Michigan,  and  from  Dickinson 
College  of  Pennsylvania. 

Fellow  of  the  American  Surgical  Society. 

Honorary  Fellow  of  the  American  College  of  Surgeons. 

Honorary  Member  of  the  New  York  Surgical  Society. 

Honorary  Fellow  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Surgery. 

Honorary  Fellow  of  the  National  Association  of  Railway  Surgeons. 

Associate  Fellow  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia. 

Member  of  the  Brooklyn  Surgical  Society. 

Member  of  the  Societe  Internationale  de  Chirurgie. 

Member  of  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society. 

Member  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  County  of  Kings. 

Member  of  the  American  Medical  Association. 

From  1900  to  191 3  Member  of  the  Borough  Council  and  President 
of  the  Board  of  Education  and  of  the  Board  of  Health  of  the  Borough 
of  Hopatcong  in  New  Jersey. 

Companion  of  the  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion. 

Comrade  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

Commander  of  Grant  Post,  No.  327,  Department  of  New  York, 
G.A.R.,  in  1913. 

Surgeon-General  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  191 5. 

11 


Member  of  the  Montauk  Qub. 
Member  of  the  Charaka  Club. 

Has  found  time  to  travel  and  accompanied  by  his  wife  has  travelled 
over  Europe  from  Trondhjem,  Norway,  in  the  north,  to  Assuan, 
Egypt,  in  the  South ;  and  in  America  from  Miami,  Florida,  to  Lake  St. 
John  in  Canada,  and  from  Arizona  to  Alaska,  and  has  made  repeated 
visits  to  the  West  Indies. 

In  1908  after  retiring  from  general  hospital  work,  established  with 
the  help  of  his  sons  a  private  surgical  hospital  for  their  personal  work, 
in  which  his  work  has  been  carried  on  to  the  present  time  and  from 
which  annual  volumes  have  been  issued  giving  the  studies  and  observa- 
tions made  in  the  institution. 

Retirement  from  general  practice  and  devotion  to  surgery  wholly, 
in  1890. 

Periods  into  which  professional  life  has  been  divided : 

Military  period,   1864-1872,  eight  years,   excluding  one  year 

devoted  to  medical  studies,  1865-1866. 
General  practice,  1 872-1 890. 
Surgery  exclusively,  1890-1916. 


1893 

PRESIDENT    OF   THE   MEDICAL    SOCIETY    OF   THE    STATE   OF   NEW   YORK 


II 

THE  INAUGURATION  OF  THE 
CELEBRATION,  1916 


THE  LEWIS  STEPHEN  PILCHER  SEMI- 
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

The  Inauguration  of  the  Celebration 

Resolutions  adopted  by  the  Medical  Society  of  the  County  of 
Kings,  December  21,  1915,  by  a  unanimous  vote: 

Whereas  Dr.  Lewis  Stephen  Pilcher  will,  in  March,  191 6,  have 
completed  fifty  years  of  labor  in  the  profession  of  medicine,  and 

Whereas,  During  all  these  years  he  has  stood  among  us  an  exem- 
plar of  sturdy  manhood,  unflagging  industry,  rich  scholarship  and 
uncompromising  integrity,  and 

Whereas,  In  his  versatile  attainments  as  soldier,  surgeon,  teacher, 
author  and  editor,  he  has  received  not  only  national  but  international 
recognition. 

Resolved,  That  the  undersigned,  deeply  conscious  of  Dr.  Pilcher's 
contributions  to  manhood  and  to  medicine  and  believing  that  this 
unique  event  presents  a  rare  opportunity  for  the  medical  profession 
of  Brooklyn  to  honor  itself  by  a  public  recognition  of  its  most  dis- 
tinguished colleague,  do  hereby  request  that  the  Medical  Society  of  the 
County  of  Kings  appoint  a  committee  of  three  with  power  to  arrange 
for  a  suitable  celebration  of  the  "  Lewis  Stephen  Pilcher  Semi-Centen- 
nial,"  that  this  committee  be  authorized  to  add  to  its  number  as  many 
as  may  be  deemed  necessary  to  properly  represent  the  various  medical 
interest  of  this  borough ;  and  further 

That  the  appointment  of  this  committee  be  the  first  act  of  the 
President-telect  for  191 6. 

J,  BiON  Bogart  H.  Beekman  Delatour 

William  Francis  Campbell  W.  B.  Brinsmade 

J.  Richard  Kevin  John  Cowell  MacEvitt 

Walter  A.  Sherwood  J.  W.  Fleming 

Russell  SL  Fowler  P.  M.  Pilcher 

Chas.  N.  Cox  Henry  A.  Fairbairn 

O.  A.  Gordon  Raymond  P.  Sullivan 

John  A.  Lee  Ralph  H.  Pomeroy 

William  Linder  John  Osborn  Polak 

A,  M.  JuDD  O.  P.  Humpstone 

17 


LETTER  FROM  THE  DIRECTORS  OF  THE  MONTAUK  CLUB 

November  28,  191 5. 
My  dear  Dr.  Pilcher  : 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Directors  of  the  Montauk  Club,  held  the  20th 
inst.,  it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  a  reception  and  dinner  be  ten- 
dered to  you  at  our  Qub  House  on  the  evening  of  March  28,  191 6, 
in  celebration  of  the  50th  Anniversary  of  your  admission  to  practise 
in  the  noblest  and  highest  of  all  professions.  It  is  needless  to  add,  my 
dear  doctor,  that  the  Montauk  Club,  with  its  many  friends  in  your 
profession  and  in  Grand  Army  circles,  will  honor  itself  in  honoring 
one  whose  skill  has  been  working  wonders  in  the  past  and  creating 
new  hope  for  to-morrow. 

Yours  very  truly, 

B.  A.  Greene, 

Secretary. 

ACTION  BY  U.  S.  GRANT  POST,  NO.  327 

Department  of  New  York,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 

From  Minutes  of  Encampment  of  March  14,  1916 

The  Commander  stated  that  the  Post  had  been  invited  to  practici- 
pate  in  a  testimonial  dinner  to  be  given  May  12th  to  Comrade  Pilcher 
by  his  professional  friends,  and  that  he  had  designated  Comrades 
Peckham  and  Parsons  to  act  with  himself  upon  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements.  Comrade  Peckham  moved  that  the  Post  co-operate 
in  this  dinner,  which  motion  was  carried  by  a  unanimous  vote. 

W.  C.  Peckham, 

Adjutant. 


in 

THE  COMMITTEES  APPOINTED 


THE 

LEWIS  STEPHEN  PILCHER 

SEMI-CENTENNIAL  COMMITTEES 


Chairman 
Dr.  William  Francis  Campbell 


Secretary 
Dr.  Walter  Aikman  Sherwood 


Treasurer 
Dr.   John   Osborn   Polak 


THE  HONORARY  COMMITTEE 


Rev.  Chas.  Carroll  Albertson,  D.D. 

Dr.  Oscar  H.  Allis 

Dr.  George  E.  Armstrong 

Mr.  Charles  D.  Atkins 

Col.  Andrew  D.  Baird 

Prof.  Dr.  Raffaele  Bastianelli 

Rev.  John  L.  Belford 

Hon.  William  Berri 

Dr.  Arthur  Dean  Bevan 

Surgeon-Gen.  Rupert  Blue 

Mr.  Edward  C.  Blum 

Rev.  Nehemiah  Boynton^  D.D. 

Right  Rev.  Frederick  Burgess,  D.D., 

LL.D. 
Rev.  Joseph  D.  Burrell,  D.D. 
Rev.  S.  Parkes  Cadman,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Hon.  William  A.  Calder 
Sir  Watson  Cheyne 
Hon.  Frederick  E.  Crane 
Dr.  George  W.  Crile 
Hon.  William  Dickey 
Dr.  Charles  N.  Dowd 
Mr.  Percy  S.  Dudley 
Mr.  William  H.  English 
Mr.  E.  Ericksen 
Hon.  John  H.  Finley 
Mr.  Crighton  B.  French 
Dr.  Frederic  H.  Gerrish 
Dr.  Arpad  G.  Gerster 
Dr.  W.  Stanton  Gleason 
Sukgeon-Gen.  William  C.  Gorgas 
Prof.  Dr.  Henri  Hartmann 
Mr.  Frederick  E.  Heitmann 
Rev.  St.  Clair  Hester,  D.D. 
Rev.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis,  D.D. 
Rev.  James  E.  Holmes,  D.D. 
Mr.  Arthur  Howe 


Dr.  Thomas  W.  Huntington 

Dr.  Henry  M.  Hurd 

Dr.  Abraham  Jacobi 

Mr.  Henry  C.  Jahne 

Dr.   Walter  B.  James 

Hon.  Walter  H.  Jaycox 

Dr.  William  W.  Keen 

Rev.  W.  V.  Kelley,  D.D. 

Prof.  Dr.  Theodor  Kocher 

Rev.  Nathan  Krass,  D.D. 

Dr.  Robert  G.  Le  Conte 

Dr.  Frederick  B.  Lund 

Very   Rev.   Mons    E.   W.   McCarty, 

D.D. 
Very  Rev.  Mons.  Joseph  McNamee, 

D.D. 
Sir  William   Macewen 
Dr.  Rudolph  Matas 
Dr.  William  J.  Mayo 
Rev.  J.  Howard  Melish,  D.D. 
Dr.  Robert  T.  Morris 
Sir  Berkeley  Moynihan 
Dr.  John  B.  Mltrphy 
Sir  William   Osler 
Hon.  Lewis  H.  Pounds 
Hon.  William  A.  Prendergast 
Dr.  John  B.  Roberts 
Prof.  Dr.  Thorkild  Rovsing 
Rev.  Frederick  F.  Shannon,  D.D. 
Dr.  Stephen  Smith 
Hon.  Luke  D.  Stapleton 
Dr.  Albert  A.  Vander  Veer 
Dr.  Victor  C.  Vaughan 
Rev.  N.  McGee  Waters,  D.D. 
Dr.  William  H.  Welch 
Dr.  J.  William  White 
Rev.  Andrew  C.  Wilson 


20 


THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 


Dr.  L.  Grant  Baldwin  Dr. 

Dr.  Calvin  F.  Barber  Dr. 

Dr.  Eli  as  H.  Bartley  Dr. 

Dr.  Bruce  G.  Blackmar  Dr. 

Dr.  Silas  G.  Blaisdell  Dr. 

Dr.  Arthur  H.  Bogart  Dr. 

Dr.  J.  BioN  Bogart  Dr. 

Dr.  William  B,  Brader  Dr. 

Dr.  William  B,  Brinsmade  Dr. 

Dr.  Samuel  S.  Brown  Dr. 

Dr,  Glentworth  R.  Butler  Dr. 

Dr.  William  Francis  Campbell  Dr. 

Dr.  Charles  N.  Cox  Dr. 

Dr.  H.  Beekman  Delatour  Dr. 

Dr.  John  G.  Dickert  Dr. 

Dr.  Robert  L.  Dickinson  Dr. 

Dr.  James  M.  Downey  Dr. 

Dr.  Warren  L.  Duffield  Dr. 

Dr.  Roger  Durham  Dr. 

Dr.  Charles  Eastmond  Dr. 

Dr.  Henry  A.  Fairbairn  Dr. 

Dr.  Mathias  Figueira  Dr. 

Dr.  Edwin  H.  Fiske  Dr. 

Dr.  James  W.  Fleming  Dr. 

Dr.  Henry  P.  de  Forest  Dr. 

Dr.  Russell  S.  Fowler  Dr. 

Dr.  Thomas  R.  French  Dr. 

Dr.  Charles  P.  Gildersleeve  Dr. 

Dr.  Charles  H.  Goodrich  Dr. 

Dr.  Onslow  A.  Gordon  Dr. 

Dr.  Burt  D.  Harrington  Dr. 


O.  Paul  Humpstone 
John  E.  Jennings 
Albert  M.  Judd 
James  C.  Kennedy 
J.  Richard  Kevin 
John  A.  Lee 
William  Linder 
John  A.  McCorkle 
John  C.  MacEvitt 
William  H.  Maddren 
Earl  H.  Mayne 
Henry  B.  Minton 
Burr  B.  Mosher 
Paul  M.  Pilcher 
John  Osborn  Polak 
Ralph  H.  Pomeroy 
John  F.  Ran  ken 
William  H.  Rankin 
Dudley  D.  Roberts 
John  D.  Rushmore 
John  H.  Schall 
Walter  Aikman  Sherwood 
Warren  S.  Simmons 
Thomas  B.  Spence 
John  D.  Sullivan 
Raym^ond  p.  Sullivan 
Henry  A.  Wade 
James  P.  Warbasse 
Cassius  H.  Watson 
Henry  G.  Webster 
Richard  W.  Westbrook 


THE  U.  S.  GRANT  POST  COMMITTEE 

Mr.  Birt  F.  Parsons  Mr.  Crighton  B.  French 

Mr.  William  C.  Peckham 

THE  MONTAUK  COMMITTEE 

Mr.  Wiluam  H.  English 
Mr.  Bartholomew  A.  Greene  Mr.  Jesse  L.  Hopkins 

Mr.  James  G.  Shaw  Dr.  J.  Scott  Wood 


21 


RECEPTION   COMMITTEE 

Former  Presidents  of  the  Kings  County  Medical  Society 

James  W.  Fleming,  Chairman 

Elias  H.  Bartley  John  Richard  Kevin 

William  Browning  John  O.  Polak 

Glentworth  R.  Butler  Ralph  H.  Pomeroy 

William  F.  Campbell  Jonathan  S.  Prout 

Walter  B.  Chase  John  C,  MacEvitt 

Charles  N.  Cox  John  A,  McCorkle 

Z.  Taylor  Emery  Alexander  R.  Matheson 

Henry  A.  Fairbairn  Frank  E.  West 

Russell  S.  Fowler  Joshua  M.  Van  Cott 

Onslow  A.  Gordon  James  MacFarland  Winfield 


TOASTMASTER 

WILLIAM  FRANCIS  CAMPBELL,  A.B.,  M.D. 


SPEAKERS 

VICTOR  C.  VAUGHAN,  M.D.,  LL.D. 

PROF.  WILLIAM  C.  PECKHAM,  M.A. 

WILLIAM  W.  KEEN,  M.D,  LL.D.,  F.R.C.S.  {Eng.) 

HON.  JOHN  H.  FINLEY,  LL.D. 

WILLIAM  J.  MAYO,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  F.R.C.S.  {Eng.) 

REV.  S.  PARKE9  CADMAN,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

CHARLES  L.  DANA,  M.D.,  LL.D. 

Presentation  of  Medal 
JAMES  PETER  WARBASSE,  M.D. 


IV 

LETTERS  OF  REGRET  AND 
APPRECIATION 


LETTERS  RECEIVED 


FROM  SIR  WILLIAM  OSLER 

Regius  Professor  of  Medicine  in  the  University 
OF  Oxford,  England 

13,  NoRHAM  Gardens,  Oxford,  qth. 
To  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  : 

I  will  do  so  with  the  greatest  pleasure  as  I  have  always  had  a  warm 
appreciation  of  Dr.  Pilcher  as  a  man  and  a  surgeon. 

Yours, 

Wm.  Osler. 

FROM  DR.  THEODORE  A.  McGRAW 

(  Ufider  whom,  as  Attending  Surgeon  at  the  Harper  Hospital  of  Detroit, 
Dr.  Pilcher  served  as  Interne  in  1866.) 

Tryon,  N.  C,  May  19,  1916. 
Dear  Dr.  Pilcher  : 

I  have  just  received  an  invitation  to  attend  the  reception  and  ban- 
quet  to  be  given  in  your  honor  on  the  twelfth  of  this  month.  It  is  with 
great  regret  that  I  find  it  impossible  to  be  present  at  an  event  which 
would  yield  me  so  much  pleasure  as  this.  It  would  enable  me  to 
express  my  high  regard  for  one  whom  I  have  been  accustomed  to  think 
of  as  an  old  friend  and,  in  addition,  the  great  appreciation  which  I  have 
for  the  services  you  have  rendered  during  many  years  to  your 
profession  and  to  humanity. 

Please  accept  my  hearty  congratulations  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  your  entrance  into  the  profession. 

Very  sincerely  yours 

Theodore  A.  McGraw. 

FROM  PROFESSOR  DR.  THEODOR  KOCHER 
Of  Berne,  Switzerland,  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  University 

OF  Berne 

Professor  Kocher,  of  Berne,  wishes  to  express  his  warmest  appre- 
ciation  of  the  services  which  Dr.  Lewis  Stephen  Pilcher  has  rendered 
to  the  medical  profession  as  Chief  Editor  of  that  excellent  periodical 

27 


the  Annals  of  Surgery.  The  art  of  gathering  in  one  journal  such  a 
lot  of  scientific  worl-c  from  the  best  men  of  a  large  country  points  not 
only  to  a  great  skill,  but  still  more  to  great  wisdom  and  kindness  of  the 
editor  to  the  medical  profession. 

I  am  sure  that  such  work  has  been  a  great  part  in  the  wonderful 
progress  of  surgery,  which  has  been  accomplished  in  the  United  States 
and  which  will  make  it  true  what  an  excellent  friend  in  Boston  told  me 
once :  "  Now  we  Americans  come  to  see  and  study  your  work,  but  time 
will  come  when  European  surgeons  will  do  the  same  in  coming  to  see 
what  we  do," 

I  can  only  say  for  myself,  that  the  Annals  of  Surgery  when  they 
arrive  have  not  to  wait  long  on  my  writing  table  till  I  look  through  the 
many  excellent  articles  they  contain. 

May  Dr.  Pilcher  continue  for  many  years  to  contribute  to  the 
scientific  progress  of  surgery  by  his  own  work  and  that  of  his  col- 
leagues and  friends. 

Th.  Kocher. 

To  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Doctorate  of  Medicine  of  Dr. 
Lewis  Stephen  Pilcher,  26,  3,  191 6. 


FROM  SIR  WILLIAM  MACEWEN 
Of  Glasgow,  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  University  of  Glasgow 

3  WooDSiDE  Crescent,  Charing  Cross, 

Glasgow,  9,  2,  1916. 

I  rejoice  to  hear  from  your  letter  of  25th  of  Jan'y  just  received, 
that  the  Professional  Colleagues  and  friends  of  Dr.  Lewis  Stephen 
Pilcher,  Editor  of  the  Annals  of  Surgery,  who  will  have  attained  the 
Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  his  Doctorate  on  28th  March,  19 16,  are  to 
honor  the  event  by  a  Banquet. 

My  present  duties  as  Surgeon-General  R.  N.  preclude  me  from 
being  with  you  on  that  occasion,  but,  though  absent  in  body,  I  join 
you  in  spirit  as  Lewis  Pilcher  is  one  of  my  oldest  and  staunchest 
American  friends. 

I  have  known  and  admired  his  Surgical  and  his  Literary  work  since 
the  days  of  the  Annals  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery,  through  all  the 
struggles  of  the  earlier  volumes  of  the  Annals  of  Surgery  until,  in 
the  fullness  of  time,  the  Annals  has  emerged  into  the  foremost  rank 
of  Surgical  journals  of  the  world.  The  labour  involved  in  such  an 
undertaking,  only  those  who  have  attempted  literary  work  can  con- 
ceive, but  the  result  attained  is  monumental.    All  honour  to  him ! 

28 


It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  refer  to  Lewis  Pilcher  as  a  distinguished 
Surgeon  of  world-wide  renown,  especially  at  a  meeting  of  his  Surgi- 
cal friends  and  Colleagues,  though  I  see  him  now  as  I  saw  him  twenty 
years  ago,  in  the  Methodist  Hospital  of  Brooklyn,  performing  a  gastro- 
enterostomy with  the  ease  and  elegance  of  an  accomplished  artist  who, 
with  a  few  deft  strokes,  produces  a  finished  picture. 

Will  you  kindly  give  for  me  to  your  honoured  guest  a  hearty  hand- 
grip and  a  straight  look  through  the  fundus  into  his  soul  and  wish 
him  health  and  happiness  and  many  more  years  of  fruitful  life  and 
prosperity. 

Yours  faithfully, 

William  Macewen. 

FROM  PROFESSOR  DR.  THORKILD  ROVSING 

Of  Copenhagen,  Denmark,  Professor  of  Clinical  Surgery  in  the 
University  of  Copenhagen 

My  dear  Doctor  Lewis  Stephen  Pilcher  : 

I  am  very  sorry  that  my  duties  here  prevent  me  crossing  the  ocean 
to  bring  you  personally  the  homage  and  the  warmest  greetings  in  the 
name  of  European  Surgery  and  in  my  own  at  the  banquet,  which  I 
learn  shall  be  held  on  the  evening  of  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  your 
Doctorate  in  Medicine. 

Many  years  I  only  knew  you  through  the  Annals  of  Surgery ,  which 
I  always  found  the  best  conducted,  the  most  dignified  surgical  periodical 
in  the  world. 

From  the  qualities  of  the  Annals  I  made  at  distance  something  like 
a  diagnosis  of  the  editor's  character.  As  I  met  him  the  first  time 
personally,  having  the  pleasure  of  seeing  him  as  my  guest  here  in 
Copenhagen,  I  found  my  diagnosis  confirmed,  but  I  found  much  more 
I  did  not  dream  about. 

I  found  a  man  of  noble,  gentle,  utmost  modest  appearance,  under 
which  I  discovered  the  most  cultivated,  scientific  intelligence,  fully 
laden  with  knowledge  not  only  of  modern  medicine  but  as  well  of  the 
entire  history  of  medicine,  interested  in  every  scientific  problem  as 
well  as  in  every  problem  of  humane  and  ethical  nature. 

In  your  presidential  address,  delivered  before  the  Medical  Society 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  1893,  "  The  Evolution  of  the  American 
Surgeon,"  you  said  the  remarkable  words  : 

"  The  surgeon  of  the  present  day,  therefore,  if  we  are  correct  in 
the  statement  of  the  conditions  that  have  attended  his  evolution,  is 
necessarily  a  physician  in  the  broadest  seme." 

29 


Even  such  a  physician  in  the  broadest  sense  are  you  and  I  con- 
gratulate your  patients  on  having  such  a  doctor,  but  still  more  I  con- 
gratulate all  the  pupils  whom  you  have  educated.  For  I  diagnose  in 
you  a  great  teacher,  a  great  educator.     *     *     * 

As  well  as  author  as  in  your  quality  of  editor  of  Annals  of  Surgery, 
you  have  had  a  great  educating  influence  not  only  upon  the  American 
surgeons,  but  upon  us  European  surgeons  too.  Through  the  always 
utmost  critical  selection  of  papers  and  authors,  admitted  to  the  columns 
of  Annals  of  Surgery,  you  created  a  great,  never  shaken  confidence  in 
the  readers  and  opened  our  eyes  as  to  how  much  we  have  to  learn  from 
American  Surgeons.  Through  the  Annals  we  got  a  true  picture,  a 
vivid  impression  of  the  evolution  of  the  scientific  American  surgeon  up 
to  his  very  high  standing  of  to-day ! 

To  this  evolution  you  have  sacrificed  fifty  years  of  indefatigable,  un- 
selfish and  very  important  work  and  therefore  seems  the  demonstra- 
tion of  honors,  brought  you  to-day  from  your  American  colleagues,  most 
justified  and  well  deserved. 

Allow  me  to  join  my  American  colleagues  and  in  the  name  of  all 
your  European  friends  and  admirers  to  bring  you  our  most  cordial 
thanks  for  the  great  and  noble  work,  which  you  through  fifty  years 
have  devoted  to  the  development  of  Medicine  in  the  broadest  sense — 
to  Surgery,  the  noblest  of  all  professions ! 

May  you  still  for  many  years  enjoy  the  same  happiness  in  your  work 
and  in  your  wonderfully  harmonious  family-life ;  may  we,  your  friends 
and  admirers,  still  for  many  years  enjoy  your  friendship  and  your 
genius ! 

Truly  yours, 

Thorkild  Rovsing. 
Copenhagen,  Julienne  Mines,  Vei  2. 


FROM  PROFESSOR  DR.  HENRI  HARTMANN 

Of  Paris,  France,  Professor  de  Clinique  Chirurgicale  a 
Universite  de  Paris 

February  14,  191 6. 
Mr.  President: 

Allow  me  to  join  the  pupils  and  friends  of  Dr.  L.  S.  Pilcher  and 
bring  him,  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  graduation,  the  homage  of 
his  French  colleague. 

I  need  not  recall  the  numerous  publications  that  have  made  his 
name  illustrious ;  you  know  them  better  than  I,  and  have  been  able  to 
measure  their  value ;  but,  having  been  a  constant  reader  of  the  Annals 

30 


of  Surgery  for  thirty  years,  I  wish  to  say  how  much  this  work,  directed 
by  Dr.  L.  S.  Pilcher  since  its  inception,  has  meant  to  the  surgeons  of 
the  whole  world,  by  enabling  them  to  know  the  important  work  of  their 
Anglo-American  colleagues. 

I  am  all  the  more  delighted  to  join  you  in  the  present  celebration, 
as  the  banquet  of  April  ii,  19 14,  given  by  the  University  Club  of 
Brooklyn,  at  which  I  had  the  honor  of  being  present,  has  left  in  my 
mind  the  most  charming  recollections. 

It  is  therefore  with  sincere  joy  that  I  beg  you  to  bring  to  Dr.  L.  S. 
Pilcher  the  most  sincere  regards  and  congratulations  of 

Yours  devotedly, 

Hartmann. 

FROM  SIR  WATSON  CHEYNE 
Of  London 
Royal  Naval  Hospital,  Chatham,  March  2,  1916. 

To  THE  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  : 

I  am  very  interested  to  hear  of  Dr.  Pilcher's  anniversary  on  March 
28th  and  I  shall  be  glad  if  you  will  convey  to  him  my  sincere  felicita- 
tions. In  editing  the  Annals  of  Surgery  he  has  carried  out  a  very 
great  work  and  one  of  the  greatest  value  especially  to  the  English 
speaking  world.  Owing  to  the  great  care  and  skill  which  have  been 
bestowed  on  it,  the  Annals  has  taken  the  premier  place  among  journals 
of  its  kind  and  has  done  much  to  advance  the  Science  and  Art  of 
Surgery.  It  must  be  a  great  pleasure  to  Dr.  Pilcher  to  feel  that  he  has 
idone  so  much  for  our  science  and  to  know  that  his  labours  are  highly 
appreciated  by  all  the  world. 

Yours  sincerely, 

W.  Watson  Cheyne, 

FROM  PROFESSOR  DR.  RAFFAELE  BASTIANELLI 
Of  Rome,  Italy 

I  am  thinking  with  great  pleasure  of  the  day  which  will  collect  the 
Medical  profession  of  Brooklyn  and  many  fellow  surgeons  of  U.  S.  A. 
to  celebrate  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Dr.  L.  Stephen  Pilcher's  Doc- 
torate of  Medicine.  His  services  to  Surgery  have  been  of  such  a 
kind  that  every  one  must  feel  deeply  indebted  to  him.  For  many, 
many  years  the  Annals  of  Surgery  have  spread  all  the  Medical  world 
through  the  teaching  and  the  experience  of  English  speaking  surgeons, 
contributing  widely  to  the  exchange  of  thoughts  between  America  and 
Europe.     The  high  scientific  and  moral  character  of  this  journal  for 

31 


which  Dr.  Pilcher  deserves  a  great  credit  has  given  to  it  one  of  the 
first  and  permanent  positions  in  the  surgical  literature  of  the  world. 

Besides  the  high  appreciation  in  which  I  hold  the  man  through 
personal  acquaintance,  I  feel  as  a  constant  reader  of  the  journal  a 
great  indebtedness.  I  wish  to  send  to  him  through  you  on  this  occasion 
my  deepest  feelings  of  appreciation  and  of  gratitude  together  with  the 
strongest  certitude  that  his  work  will  remain  forever. 

He  is  a  jolly  fellow.      May  he  live  happy  and  long ! 

With  many  thanks  to  you,  I  remain, 

Yours  truly, 
Dr.  Raffaele  Bastianelli. 
Roma,  March  5,  1916. 

FROM  J.  WILLIAM'  WHITE,  M.D.,  LL.D. 

Of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  University 

OF  Pennsylvania 

Philadelphia,  January  28,  1916. 

To  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements: 

Your  note  of  January  26th  finds  me  in  the  fourth  month  of  an 
obscure  lumbar  spondylitis,  with  associated  neuritis  and  excessive  pain. 
1  am  unable  to  leave  my  room  and  altogether  unfitted  for  any  duty  of 
any  sort ;  but  if  you  think  it  would  in  the  slightest  degree  gratify  Dr. 
Pilcher  to  have  my  name  added  to  the  Honorary  Committee,  and  if 
it  is  really  to  be  Honorary,  so  that  I  may  not  find  myself  in  the  position 
of  leaving  work  for  others  to  do,  I  shall  certainly  be  glad  to  go  upon  it. 
Will  you  be  good  enough  to  explain  the  circumstances  to  Dr.  Pilcher 
and  at  the  same  time  to  give  him  my  very  warm  regards  and  best 
wishes,  and  my  congratulations  on  his  having  completed  a  so  distin- 
guished and  noteworthy  period  of  service  to  our  profession  and  to 
humanity  at  large  ? 

Yours  truly, 

J.  William  White. 

FROM  RUDOLPH  MATAS,  M.D. 

Of  New  Orleans,  La.,  Professor  of  Surgery  in  Tulane 

University 

February  i,  191 6. 
To  THE  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  : 

I  hasten  to  express  my  great  appreciation  of  the  honor  of  your 
invitation  to  form  part  of  the  Semi-Centennial  Committee  appointed  to 
co-operate  in  the  celebration  of  Dr.  Lewis  Stephen  Pilcher's  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  of  his  Doctorate  in  Medicine.     I  rejoice  at  the  opportunity 

32 


to  testify,  in  some  way,  to  my  admiration  of  his  splendid  accomplish- 
ments and  his  great  career  of  inspiring  activity  in  behalf  of  the 
medical  profession  and  especially  of  the  advancement  of  Surgery; 
and,  in  addition,  my  personal  respect  and  friendship  for  him  as  a 
man,  whose  example  is  so  eminently  worthy  of  recognition  as  a  model 
for  the  present  and  coming  generations  of  American  Surgeons.  While 
it  may  not  be  possible  for  me  to  attend  the  celebration  in  person,  I 
feel  a  deep  and  sincere  interest  in  the  success  of  so  notable  an  occasion 
and  you  may  count  upon  my  good  will  and  enthusiastic  support  at  all 
times  in  any  way  that  I  may  be  called  upon  to  co-operate  with  you. 

Again  with  heartiest  and  best  wishes  for  a  long  continuance  of 
Dr.  Pilcher's  career  of  exemplary  citizenship  and  professional  useful- 
ness, in  perfect  health  and  happiness,  I  am. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

R.  Matas. 


FROM  FREDERIC  HENRY  GERRISH,  M.D.,  LL.D. 

Of  Portland,  Me.,  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  Medical 
Department  of  Bowdoin  College 

Portland,  Me.,  7,  February,  1916. 

To  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements. 

My  Dear  Sir  : 

Your  very  kind  letter,  announcing  the  celebration  of  Dr.  Pilcher's 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  doctorate,  and  expressing  his  wish  that  my 
name  be  placed  upon  the  Honorary  Committee,  thrills  me  with  sym- 
pathetic emotions. 

I  wish  that  I  could  do  a  great  deal  more  to  show  my  genuine 
interest  in  the  occasion  than  merely  to  grant  this  request,  which,  in 
itself,  is  so  complimentary  to  me.  I  can  never  forget  what  I  owe  to 
Dr.  Pilcher's  personal  regard  and  thoughtful  kindness;  and  I  always 
remember  him  with  gratitude  and  affection.  Long  may  he  live  to  enjoy 
the  blessings  of  the  multitudes,  to  whom  his  skill  has  brought  health, 
and  his  benign  presence  courage  and  strength. 

Of  course,  my  cordial  compliance  is  the  only  possible  answer  to 
his  most  friendly  desire. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Frederic  Henry  Gerrish. 
33 


FROM  THOMAS  W.  HUNTINGTON,  M.D.,  LL.D. 

Of  San  Francisco^  Cal.,  Professor  of  Surgery  (Emeritus)  in  the 

University  of  California 

San  Francisco,  Cal.,  March  22,  19 16. 
My  dear  Doctor  Pilcher  : 

I  take  this  occasion  to  congratulate  you  upon  having  attained  to  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  your  doctorate  in  medicine. 

This  event,  in  your  life,  is  the  more  notable  because  you  have 
come  up  to  a  ripe  age,  after  a  lifetime  of  earnest  and  devoted  work 
in  your  chosen  profession,  while  in  the  possession  of  all  your  faculties 
and  with  the  prospect  of  added  years  of  honorable  usefulness. 

A  host  of  friends,  myself  included,  throughout  the  civilized  world, 
join  in  the  wish  that  your  future,  as  your  past,  may  be  attended  with 
prosperity  and  happiness. 

Very  cordially  yours, 

Thomas  W.  Huntington. 

FROM  ARTHUR  DEAN  BEVAN,  M.D. 
Of  Chicago,  III.,  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  University  of 

Chicago 
Chicago,  III.,  January  28,  1916. 
To  the  Chamnan  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements. 
Dear  Doctor  : 

Received  your  letter  of  January  26th  in  regard  to  Dr.  Lewis  S. 
Pilcher.  I  shall  be  delighted  to  be  one  of  the  committee.  Dr.  Pilcher's 
work  deserves  proper  recognition  from  the  surgeons  of  the  United 
States.  He  has  done  more  than  any  other  man  to  develop  American 
surgical  literature  and  secure  for  it  international  recognition. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Arthur  Dean  Bevan. 

FROM  ABRAHAM  JACOBI,  M.D.,  LL.D. 
Of  New  York 
New  York,  N.  Y.  January  27,  1916. 
To  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements, 
Dear  Doctor  : 

My  thanks  are  due  you  for  your  invitation  to  join  you  in  doing 
honor  to  our  distinguished  friend.  I  never  thought  he  was  old  or 
getting  old.  I  shall  always  be  pleased  to  be  mentioned  in  connection 
with  him. 

Very  truly  yours, 

A.  Jacobi. 
34 


FROM  ALBERT  VANDER  VEER,  M.D.,  LL.D. 

Professor  of  Surgery,  Albany  Medical  College,  President  of  the 

American  Medical  Association 

April  26,  191 6. 
To  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  : 

In  reply  to  your  kind  letter  would  say  it  gives  me  great  comfort 
to  accept  your  invitation,  and  I  am  looking  forward  with  much  pleasure 
to  being  with  you  at  the  50th  Anniversary  of  Dr.  Pilcher's  practice. 

I  am  so  happy  to  note  you  are  paying  him  this  tribute  of  respect, 
for  no  man  is  more  worthy. 
With  my  very  best  wishes, 

Affectionately  yours, 

A.  Vander  Veer. 

FROM  STEPHEN  SMITH,  M.D.,  LL.D. 
Of  New  York 

260  West  76th  Street,  May  5,  1916. 
My  dear  Dr.  Pilcher  : 

I  regret  very  much  that  I  shall  be  unable  to  attend  your  reception 
and  banquet,  owing  to  the  fact  that  at  the  age  of  93  I  find  it  a  matter 
of  prudence  to  pass  my  evenings  at  home.  I  am  thereby  deprived  of 
many  enjoyable  occasions  of  a  professional  and  social  character,  as 
your  banquet  would  be ;  but  I  must  yield  to  the  inevitable. 

I  am  delighted  that  you  are  to  receive  this  public  honor,  which  has 
been  richly  earned  by  a  life  intensely  devoted  to  conserving  the  welfare 
of  the  people. 

Believe  me,  dear  Dr.  Pilcher,  as  sincerely. 

Thy  friend, 

Stephen  Smith. 

FROM  HON.  LEWIS  H.  POUNDS 
President  of  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn 

Brooklyn,  February  3,  1916. 
To  THE  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  : 

I  was  very  glad  to  receive  your  letter  announcing  that  there  would 
be  a  celebration  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Lewis  Stephen  Pilcher's 
Doctorate  in  Medicine,  on  March  30th.  It  is  a  celebration  in  which 
all  good  Brooklynites  will  be  happy  to  join,  and  I  accept  with  pleasure 
your  invitation  to  serve  on  the  Honorary  Committee,  and  to  co-operate 
with  the  medical  profession  in  paying  tribute  of  esteem  to  Dr.  Pilcher. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  celebration  will  be  one  which  will  reach 
far  beyond  the  borders  of  the  city.     Such  a  distinctive  event  should 

35 


arouse  interest  in  the  medical  profession  throughout  the  entire  United 
States.  It  is  a  fitting  recognition  of  the  excellent  work  that  Dr.  Pilcher 
has  done.  He  has  contributed,  in  a  large  measure,  to  the  surgical 
advance  in  this  country.  I  am  happy  indeed  to  be  numbered  among 
his  friends.  It  will  be  most  agreeable  to  me  to  be  a  part  of  this  event, 
except  that  I  cannot  spare  much,  if  any,  extra  time.  I  presume  this 
will  not  be  necessary. 

sincerely  yours, 
L.  H.  Pounds, 

President,  Borough  of  Brooklyn. 

FROM  REV.  JOSEPH  DUNN  BURRELL,  D.D. 
Pastor  of  the  Classon  Ave.  Presbyterian  Church  of  Brooklyn 

Brooklyn,  New  York,  May  9,  1916. 
My  dear  Dr.  Pilcher  : 

I  regret  very  much  that  I  am  disappointed  in  my  hope  to  be  with 
your  many  appreciative  friends  at  your  dinner  Friday  night.  It  will 
be  a  splendid  and  deserved  tribute  to  your  commanding  work,  and  I  am 
sorry  not  to  share  in  your  triumph. 

It  must  be  a  great  satisfaction  to  you  to  look  back  over  your  life's 
achievement  and  realize  how  deeply  you  have  the  gratitude  of  the 
multitudes  you  have  served.  There  is  no  work  in  the  world  more  truly 
Christian  than  that  of  the  physician  and  surgeon,  and  this  community 
honors  itself  in  honoring  such  men. 

Faithfully  yours, 

Joseph  Dunn  Burrell. 
Dr.  Lewis  S.  Pilcher, 

802  Carroll  St. 

REV.  H.  G.  MENDENHALL,  D.D. 

Moderator  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York 

311  West  75th  Street,  New  York,  May  10,  1916. 
Dr.  Lewis  Pilcher, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Dear  Dr.  Pilcher  : 

Permit  me  to  join  your  host  of  friends  in  extending  to  you  my 
congratulations  at  this  very  important  time  in  your  life.  I  do  not 
forget,  and  never  can,  the  splendid  work  you  did  in  my  home  almost 
twenty-five  years  ago,  and  this  act  has  been  duplicated,  I  am  sure, 
hundreds  of  times  in  other  homes. 

It  is  a  very  joyous  thing  for  a  man  of  your  position  to  come  to 
this  period  in  his  life  with  the  respect,  confidence  and  the  love  not  only 

36 


of  his  professional  friends  but  from  those  to  whom  he  has  ministered. 
May  your  years  long  be  lengthened  and  be  filled  with  good  deeds 
and  the  blessings  which  they  bring. 

Sincerely  yours, 

H.  G.  Mendenhall. 

FROM  DR.  ROBERT  ABBE 
13  West  50th  Street,  New  York,  May  10,  1916. 
My  dear  Dr.  Pilcher  : 

A  bad  attack  of  gout  has  kept  me  in  bed  for  two  weeks,  and  will 
prevent  my  helping  to  do  you  honor,  at  the  reception  of  the  twelfth. 

My  affection  and  esteem  go  out  to  you  on  this  semi-centennial  of 
your  beautiful  lifework.  I  share  with  all  who  know  you  the  feeling 
that  honors  that  are  showered  upon  you  are  nothing  to  the  inner  con- 
sciousness of  maintaining  the  high  standard  of  scientific  work,  of 
pioneer  effort,  of  that  beautiful  sense  of  honor,  and  sustained  effort  to 
uphold  the  glory  and  dignity  of  our  profession  which  are  your  just 
claim. 

Affectionately  yours, 

Robert  Abbe. 

FROM  DR.  JAMES  S.  REEVE 

572  Oneida  Street,  Appleton,  Wisconsin. 
Dr.  John  Osborn  Polak, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
My  dear  Doctor  : 

I  feel  much  gratified  at  the  invitation  to  attend  the  banquet  in  honor 
of  Dr.  Pilcher's  fifty  years  of  service  in  the  practice  of  medicine.  It 
will  be  impossible  for  me  to  attend  the  banquet,  but  I  should  be  glad  to 
have  you  tender  to  Dr.  Pilcher  my  regrets  that  distance  forbids  my 
accepting  the  invitation,  and  my  congratulations  on  the  occasion. 

My  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Pilcher  was  due  to  my  service  under  him 
as  interne  in  the  Methodist  Hospital,  in  Brooklyn,  more  than  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  but  time  has  not  lessened  my  admiration  for  him  as  a 
surgeon  and  as  a  man,  and  I  cherish  a  lasting  gratitude  for  his  sym- 
pathy and  counsel  to  all  of  us  internes,  who^  learned  much  more  than 
they  realized  at  the  time,  through  contact  with  one  possessing  such  rare 
discrimination,  full  knowledge,  and  broad  outlook. 

It  would  give  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  be  present  at  the  banquet, 
and  to  meet  Doctor  Pilcher  once  more,  but  although  it  will  not  be 
possible  I  shall  cherish  the  hope  that  I  may  see  him  again  some  day, 
and  present  my  congratulations  in  person,  even  if  they  are  delayed. 

Sincerely  yours, 

James  S.  Reeve. 
37 


FROM  HON.  ALFRED  B.  BEERS 

Past  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 

Bridgeport^  Conn.,  May  ii,  1916. 

John  Osborn  Polak,  M.D., 
287  Clinton  Ave., 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Dear  Sir: 

I  acknowledge  the  honor  of  an  invitation  to  the  Lewis  Stephen 
Pilcher,  M.D.,  Semi-Centennial  Banquet,  May  12,  1916. 

The  eminent  services  of  Dr.  Pilcher  in  behalf  of  his  country  during" 
the  War  for  the  Union,  his  long  and  successful  career  in  his  chosen 
profession  as  a  Doctor  of  Medicine,  his  well-earned  eminence  in  his 
profession,  his  years  of  faithful  and  conscientious  service  in  behalf  of 
suffering  humanity,  his  freely-given  efforts  in  behalf  of  his  fellow-men 
in  every  walk  of  life,  his  interest  and  work  in  behalf  of  his  comrades  of 
the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  his  high  character  as  a  professional 
man,  a  husband,  a  father  and  as  a  citizen,  and  his  genial  qualities  as  a 
friend,  have  combined  to  make  him  loved  and  respected  by  all  who  have 
the  honor  of  his  friendship. 

I  regret  that  temporary  physical  conditions  will  not  permit  me  to 
be  present  to  pay  my  respects  and  to  do  honor  to  one  whom  I  esteem, 
so  highly  as  Dr.  Pilcher. 

Kindly  present  my  congratulations  to  him  and  my  wish  that  he 
may  live  long  to  enjoy  the  honors  of  a  well-spent  life  and  the  society 
and  companionship  of  his  family  and  of  that  multitude  of  admiring: 
friends  and  comrades  of  whom  I  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  myself 
as  one. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Alfred  B.  Beers, 
Past  Commander-in-Chief, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic^ 


This  letter  from  Sir  Victor  Horsley  was  received  in  New  York  August  21,  some 
weeks  after  the  death  of  its  distinguished  author,  and  after  this  volume  was  in  print. 
The  melancholy  interest  which  attaches  to  the  tragic  fate  of  this  gifted  surgeon 
under  the  burning  sun  of  Mesopotamia  in  the  service  of  his  country  would  make  its 
omission  to  be  deplored.    It  is  therefore  inserted. 

FROM  SIR  VICTOR  HORSLEY 

112  Ind.  Field  Ambulance,  The  Front, 

Mesopotamia,  July  i,  19 16. 
Dear  Dr.  Pilch  er: 

I  am  sorry  that  I  have  only  just  received  the  charming  invitation 
from  the  Committee  which  have  done  you  the  honor  of  a  Jubilee  banquet 
and  in  which  they  very  kindly  asked  my  participation.  Had  I  been  at 
home,  I  fear  that  my  work  would  have  prevented  my  taking  such  a  very 
pleasant  share  in  appreciating  the  value  of  the  services  you  have  rendered 
to  surgery  and  our  profession.  As  it  is  I  have  been  moved  from  France 
to  Gallipoli  and  now  from  Gallipoli  to  this  inferno  of  120  degrees  in 
the  shade  and  India,  so  I  am  unable  to  personally  testify  what  I  feel. 
I  hope  that  in  spite  of  the  present  crime  against  Civilization  and 
humanity  you  are  enjoying  life  as  actively  as  you  have  worked  in  it. 

With  kindest  regards  and  good  wishes,  I  remain, 

Yours  sincerely, 

Victor  Horsley, 
Col.  AMS. 


V 

INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS  BY  WILLIAM  FRANCIS 
CAMPBELL,  A.B.,  M.D.,  PROFESSOR  OF  CLINICAL 
SURGERY  IN  THE  LONG  ISLAND  COLLEGE  HOS- 
PITAL; FORMER  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  MEDICAL 
SOCIETY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS 

By  Dr.  William  Francis  Campbell 

Doubtless  many  of  you  have  heard  of  the  famous  traveller,  Arsene 
Houssaye,  vi^ho  after  travelling  to  the  ends  of  the  world,  and  w^ondering 
where  else  he  might  go,  bethought  himself  to  look  out  of  his  own 
window. 

It's  a  curious  psychology  that  affects  our  mental  vision  and  permits 
us  to  appreciate  the  distant,  seldom  the  near;  we  are  all  more  or  less 
affected  with  a  sort  of  mental  hypermetropia — we  don't  see  the  great 
things  of  life  when  they  are  too  close  to  us ;  the  great  people  all  live  in 
another  town  or  a  past  century;  the  great  surgeons  all  live  in  distant 
cities.  We  worship  at  the  shrine  of  every  saint  save  the  saints  of  our 
own  household. 

It's  a  rare  privilege  we  have  to-night  of  remaining  at  home,  and 
looking  out  of  our  own  windows. 

We  have  assembled  here  to-night  not  for  the  feast  or  the  social  hour ; 
all  that  is  incidental — we  have  come  to  express  the  deepest  feelings  that 
one  man  can  express  to  another — we  come  to  offer  a  tribute  of  esteem 
and  affection  to  Lewis  Stephen  Pilcher — the  man,  the  soldier,  the 
citizen,  the  author,  the  surgeon,  the  comrade  and  friend.  But  that 
isn't  enough,  this  occasion  holds  a  far  deeper  significance. 

Lewis  Stephen  Pilcher  has  walked  among  us  for  fifty  years,  and 
amid  the  shifting  scenes  of  time  he  has  crystallized  a  personality  that 
stands  for  something  very  permanent.  When  we  think  of  him  we 
recall  not  merely  the  staunch  citizen,  the  prolific  author,  the  great 
surgeon — he  means  much  more  than  that  to  us. 

When  we  think  of  Dr.  Pilcher,  we  think  of  integrity  and  solidity, 
we  think  of  one  who  has  held  fast  to  a  great  conception  of  a  great  pro- 
fession, of  one  who  in  every  relationship  of  life  has  played  the  part  of 
a  real  man.  And  so  in  its  deepest  significance  this  occasion  celebrates 
the  supremacy  of  character  and  the  triumph  of  worth. 

If  I  were  to  choose  a  text  to  fit  the  occasion  I  would  select  it  from 
one  of  Kipling's  later  masterpieces — the  last  verse  of  his  poem 
entitled  "  If." 

If  you  can  talk  with  the  crowd  and  keep  your  virtue. 
Or  walk  with  Kings  nor  lose  the  common  touch ; 
If  neither  loving  friends  or  foes  can  hurt  you, 
If  all  men  count  with  you,  but  none  too  much : 
If  you  can  fill  the  unforgiving  minute 
With  sixty  seconds'  worth  of  distance  run, 
Yours  is  the  Earth  and  everything  that's  in  it, 
And — which  is  more — you'll  be  a  man  my  son. 
41 


That's  the  text  that  interprets  this  occasion,  and  our  guest  is  the 
living  sermon ;  and  if  to-night  his  heart  is  stirred  by  this  splendid  testi- 
monial, Hke  the  alchemists  of  old,  he  is  finding  in  the  crucible  of  experi- 
ence only  the  gold  which  he  himself  has  poured  into  it. 

I  had  the  honor  and  privilege  of  being  one  of  Dr.  Pilcher's  boys  in 
the  days  of  the  old  Seney  Hospital.  I  confess  I  never  had  anyone 
quite  so  disturb  my  natural  complacency  as  did  he^ — for  he  was  disci- 
pline incarnate,  and  we  boys  often  thought  things  we  dared  not  say. 
And  yet  in  the  light  of  the  passing  years  we  realize  that  he  put  iron 
into  our  moral  fibre,  and  added  a  brace  to  our  spinal  column ;  and  we 
bless  him  for  the  discipline  that  remains  our  most  valued  asset. 

And  later  on  when  we  crossed  the  sea  and  visited  the  great  clinics 
of  the  world,  it  was  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  find  that  Dr.  Pilcher's 
name  was  an  open  sesame  to  the  courtesy,  hospitality,  and  friendship 
of  the  great  masters  of  surgery  among  whom  he  was  an  acknowledged 
peer.  And  so  for  the  first  time  we  realized  that  our  Dr.  Pilcher  was 
not  only  a  citizen  of  Brooklyn,  but  a  citizen  of  the  world.  And  to-night 
in  the  larger  sense  we  doctors  are  all  Doctor  Pilcher's  boys,  for  he's 
taught  every  one  of  us  by  precept  and  example,  and  the  fine  and  fragrant 
atmosphere  that  distinguishes  this  occasion  is  born  not  merely  of  the 
tributes  of  friend  and  comrade,  but  of  the  lofty  relationship  that  exists 
between  Master  and  Scholar. 

Friend,  Comrade,  Master!  On  this  your  golden  anniversary  we 
present  you  the  finest  gift  we  can  offer — the  golden  homage  of  loyal 
hearts. 

Friends,  Comrades,  Scholars!  in  token  of  a  debt  we  can  never 
repay,  arise !  and  salute  the  Master. 


VI 

GREETINGS  FROM  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHI- 
GAN, BY  PROF.  VICTOR  C.  VAUGHAN,  M.D., 
LL.D.,  DEAN  OF  THE  MEDICAL  FACULTY  OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN 


GREETINGS  FROM  THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  MICHIGAN 

By  Professor  Victor  C.  Vaughan  , 

I  have  come  to  bear  to  Dr.  Pilcher  the  greetings  and  best  wishes  of 
his  Alma  Mater.  Dr.  Pilcher  is  thrice  a  graduate  of  Michigan  Uni- 
versity, A.B.  '62,  M.D.  '66,  and  LL.D.  1900.  If  the  University  of 
Michigan  has  any  other  degree  which  might  be  an  honor  to  Dr.  Pilcher 
the  University  will  be  glad  to  bestow  it. 

Dr.  Pilcher  comes  of  good  stock.  His  father,  who  was  a  pastor  of 
a  church  in  Ann  Arbor  in  the  boyhood  days  of  Lewis,  had  a  deep  thirst 
for  knowledge.  While  fulfilling  his  duties  as  pastor,  Pilcher  Sr.  en- 
tered the  Medical  School,  took  the  full  course  and  graduated.  From 
such  stock  as  this  only  good  could  come. 

Many  of  Dr.  Pilcher 's  class  of  1862  immediately  after  graduation 
volunteered  in  the  United  States  Army.  They  were  ready  to  offer 
their  services  and  many  of  them  gave  their  lives  to  their  country.  I 
believe  that  this  spirit  of  patriotism  still  is  dominant  among  the  students 
in  Micnigan  University  and  if  the  country  should  call  for  men  again  I 
believe  that  the  response  would  be  as  prompt  and  as  hearty  as  it  was  in 
^62.  While  we  love  our  University,  we  recognize  the  fact  that  we  could 
honor  it  in  no  better  way  than  by  serving  our  country  in  time  of  need. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  speak  of  Dr.  Pilcher  as  a  surgeon.  There 
!are  at  this  table  men  more  competent  to  do  this  than  I.  Fifty  years  in 
the  practice  of  medicine  means  much.  When  Dr.  Pilcher  graduated 
Villemin  was  carrying  on  the  experiments  which  demonstrated  beyond 
controversy  that  tuberculosis,  both  medical  and  surgical,  is  a  contagious 
disease.  The  brilliant  work  of  Pasteur  had  scarcely  begun.  Many 
years  were  to  elapse  before  Koch  isolated  the  bacillus  of  tuberculosis. 
Ten  years  after  Dr.  Pilcher  graduated  in  medicine  and  surgery,  sur- 
geons, their  patients  and  their  assistants,  were  standing  in  carbolic  acid 
sprays  being  poisoned  in  attempts  to  sterilize  the  air  surrounding  the 
man  being  operated  upon.  What  wonderful  strides  have  been  made 
in  both  surgery  and  medicine  during  the  half  century  of  professional 
life  of  this  man !  Human  life  in  this  country  has  been  prolonged  on 
the  average  quite  15  years.  Infantile  mortality  has  been  reduced  more 
than  half.  A  man  forty  years  of  age  to-day  is  younger  actually  than 
his  father  was  at  thirty.     The  whole  science  of  preventive  medicine  has 

45 


been  developed.  Indeed,  preventive  medicine  has  become  the  keystone  in 
the  great  arch  of  modern  civihzation  and  its  strength  has  not  been  broken 
by  the  heavy  blows  of  the  most  gigantic  war  the  world  has  ever  known. 
Dr.  Pilcher,  to  you  I  bring  from  Michigan  University,  its  faculties, 
its  graduates  and  its  students,  love  and  congratulations  on  this  the  cele- 
bration of  your  semi-centennial  in  medicine  and  surgery. 


1 864 

HOSPITAL    STEWARD,  U.S.A. 


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COMMANDER    U.  S.  GRANT    POST,  NO.    327,    DEPARTMENT   OF    NEW   YORK,    GRAND   ARMY 

OF   THE   REPUBLIC 


VII 

MESSAGE  FROM  THE  GRAND  ARMY  OF  THE 
REPUBLIC,  BY  PROF.  WILLIAM  C.  PECKHAM, 
M.A.,  ADJUTANT  AND  PAST  COMMANDER  OF 
U.  S.  GRANT  POST,  NO.  327,  DEPARTMENT  OF 
N.  Y.,  G.  A.  R. 


MESSAGE  FROM  THE  GRAND  ARMY 
OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

By  Professor  William  C.  Peckham 

Past  Commander  and  Adjutant  of  U.  S.  Grant  Post,  No.  327, 
Department  of  New  York,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 

It  is  my  pleasant  task  to  bring  to  the  guest  of  the  evening  the  felici- 
tations and  congratulations  of  his  Comrades  of  the  U.  S.  Grant  Post, 
Department  of  New  York,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  in  whose 
name  I  have  the  honor  to  speak  to-night. 

We  rejoice  with  him  in  all  the  exquisite  satisfaction  which  an  occa- 
sion like  this  must  bring.  We  count  him  happy  in  having  so  lived  as  to 
deserve  so  much  from  his  professional  associates  and  from  us  his  com- 
rades in  the  service  of  his  country.  And  he  has  deserved  it  all  to  the 
full.  When  a  few  weeks  ago  in  the  encampment  of  the  Post  I  called 
the  attention  of  the  Comrades  to  the  fact  that  on  that  very  day  jfifty 
years  ago  our  Comrade  Pilcher  had  taken  his  degree  in  Medicine  the 
announcement  was  received  with  much  enthusiasm.  I  moved  that  the 
congratulations  of  the  Post  be  extended  to  him,  and  this  motion  was 
seconded  by  one  after  another  who  declared  that  their  lives  had  been 
saved  by  his  skilful  assistance  and  who  expressed  the  deepest  gratitude 
for  his  kindly  attentions.  Should  you  call  the  roll  of  the  twenty-five 
or  more  veterans  in  blue  with  brass  buttons  who  are  sitting  in  a  group 
before  me  probably  more  than  half,  and  many  others  who  are  not  here 
to-night,  have  had  their  lives  prolonged  and  their  old  age  made  green 
by  his  loving  services. 

Grant  Post  has  honored  him  with  its  best  gift.  He  has  been  its 
Commander,  and  has  done  distinguished  service  for  it.  He  has  thus 
honored  Grant  Post.  He  has  honored  the  Grand  Army  by  serving  it  as 
its  Surgeon-General.     If  I  mistake  not  other  honors  await  him  there. 

The  comradeship  of  the  Grand  Army  is  unique.  It  was  born  amid 
the  common  sufferings  of  field  and  hospital.  It  has  been  cemented  by 
common  service  through  more  than  a  half  century  to  the  Union  which 
it  saved.  It  stands  to-day  the  exponent  of  a  patriotism  which  knows 
no  allegiance  other  than  that  to  our  starry  banner. 

To  such  a  devotion,  gentlemen  of  the  medical  profession,  your  mem- 
bers have  ever  been  true.  Do  you  know  that  it  was  a  doctor  who 
planned  and  carried  out  the  plan  for  Paul  Revere  to  take  his  momentous 
ride?     It  was  the  same  doctor  who,  holding  a  commission  as  a  major 

51 


general,  refused  the  command  at  Bunker  Hill,  took  a  place  in  the  ranks 
with  his  musket,  and,  fighting  to  the  end  in  that  battle,  fell  at  almost 
the  last  shot,  making  the  name  of  Doctor  and  General  Joseph  Warren 
immortal.  Many  there  were  in  our  war  whose  records  were  just  as 
worthy  of  remembrance. 

I  doubt  not  that  our  loved  Comrade  to  whom  we  do  honor  to-night 
gave  as  deep  a  devotion  in  his  service  for  the  Union  in  field  and  on  ship- 
board, for  he  served  in  both  the  Army  and  the  Navy,  as  ever  knight  of 
old  in  quest  of  Holy  Grail  or  Sepulchre.  It  was  such  service  which 
won  the  final  victory.  It  was  such  service  which  knit  the  fibre  of  the  souls 
of  those  men  and  gave  this  nation  the  generation  of  citizens  who  have 
so  gloriously  advanced  it  during  the  fifty  years  of  its  history  since  the 
war.  And  this,  gentlemen,  is  a  result  ever  to  be  expected  from  proper 
military  training  of  our  young  men. 

And  upon  the  medical  staff  in  any  future  emergency  must  the  great- 
est responsibilities  rest.  The  tale  of  death  in  the  war  for  the  Union,  of 
lives  wasted  by  disease,  was  doubtless  unavoidable,  owing  to  the  igno?-' 
ranee  of  its  causes,  but  no  such  excuse  can  be  made  for  such  ruin  in 
the  future,  God  forbid  that  we  should  have  war,  though  it  does  not 
look  at  this  moment  as  if  He  would.  But  if  it  does  come  there  is  no 
doubt  that  your  profession  will  discharge  its  duties  with  the  highest 
fidelity.  The  manner  in  which  the  medical  staff  of  the  Japanese  army 
preceded  its  march,  tested  the  water,  and  forbade  its  use,  if  it  was  found 
unsafe,  is  a  case  in  point. 

If  I  wished  to  compare  Comrade  Pilcher  to  any  character  in  litera- 
ture, I  should  place  him  alongside  of  Great  Heart  in  Pilgrim's  Progress, 
the  one  whose  good  sense  was  always  equal  to  any  demand  made  upon 
him,  who  had  always  the  right  word  for  any  occasion,  and  who  guided 
his  little  party  through  all  difficulties  to  the  welcome  end  of  their 
journey. 

My  dear  Comrade,  we  honor  you  for  all  you  are,  the  complete 
exponent  of  our  Fraternity.  We  honor  you  for  what  you  have  done 
in  loving  charity  for  our  sick  and  suffering  members.  We  honor  you 
for  your  unswerving  loyalty  to  us  as  Comrades,  for  your  simple  and 
straightforward  espousal  of  every  cause  which  you  deem  to  be  right, 
and  for  your  rigid  response  to  the  dictates  of  your  own  conscience. 
And  in  token  of  this  Comradeship,  my  dear  friend  and  Comrade  Lewis 
Stephen  Pilcher,  and  in  the  name  of  the  Comrades  of  U.  S.  Grant  Post 
of  Brooklyn,  who  fully  share  my  feelings,  I  give  you  the  Sign  and  the 
Grip  of  our  Order. 


52 


VIII 

LEWIS  STEPHEN  PILCHER  AND  THE  ANNALS  OF 
SURGERY.  REMARKS  BY  WILLIAM  W.  KEEN,  M.D., 
LL.D.,  F.R.C.S.  (ENG.),  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  SOCIETE 
INTERNATIONALE  DE  CHIRURGIE 


LEWIS  STEPHEN  PILCHER  AND  THE 
ANNALS  OF  SURGERY 

Remarks  by  Professor  William  Williams  Keen 

The  friendship  between  Dr.  Pilcher  and  myself  began  forty  years 
ago.  I  was  about  to  say  between  myself  and  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Pilcher,  but 
a  glance  at  the  gallery  will  show  you  that  she  is  too  youthful  in  appear- 
ance for  that  possibility. 

We  are  celebrating  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  Dr.  Pilcher's 
Professorship  and  the  fiftieth  of  his  graduation  in  medicine.  Now  I 
am  almost  blase  in  semi-centenaries,  centenaries  and  sesqui-centenaries. 
In  1876  I  helped  to  celebrate  our  first  National  Centenary;  in  1887  the 
first  centenary  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia.  Fifty-two 
years  ago  I  joined  in  celebrating  the  centenary  of  Brown  University, 
my  own  Alma  Mater,  and  two  years  ago  her  sesqui-centenary.  But 
yesterday  I  "  assisted  "  at  the  sesqui-centenary  of  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  our  oldest  American  Medical 
School. 

Coming  nearer  home,  four  years  ago  I  celebrated  my  own  half 
century  in  medicine.  My  first  birthday — my  real  entrance  upon  life — 
is  so  far  behind  me  that  I  can  scarcely  see  it  with  a  telescope,  while  my 
one  hundred  and  fiftieth  is  so  much  less  far  before  me  that  I  can  easily 
descry  it  with  a  mere  spy-glass.  Dr.  Pilcher  and  I  intend  to  celebrate 
it  with  due  pomp  and  circumstances  and  I  extend  to  all  of  you  a  cordial 
invitation  to  be  present. 

Dr.  Pilcher,  as  we  have  heard,  is  a  most  careful  surgeon,  a  strik- 
ing contrast  to  a  certain  other  surgeon  about  whom  this  story  was 
lately  told  by  one  of  my  grandsons  at  my  dinner-table.  I  think  he  en- 
joyed the  story  all  the  more  as  it  involved  a  sly  thrust  at  his  father  and 
his  grandfather,  both  doctors.  Though  a  lad  of  twelve  he  has  a 
keen  sense  of  humor.  You  can  see  him  as  it  were  first  tasting  a  joke, 
then  an  anticipatory  smile  diffuses  itself  over  his  as  yet  unfurrowed 
face  and  finally  when  the  climax  is  reached  he  bursts. 

Two  convalescent  patients  were  discussing  the  demerits  of  their 
surgeon.  One  of  them  said  "  I  have  a  grudge  against  him  because 
when  he  took  out  my  appendix  he  left  a  sponge  in  me."  "  That's 
nothing  compared  with  what  he  did  when  he  took  mine  out,"  said  the 
other.     "  He  left  a  pair  of  scissors  in  me."    Just  then  the  door  half 

55 


opened  and  the  culprit  doctor,  just  showing  his  head  inside  the  door  and 
looking  around  anxiously,  asked,  "  Does  anybody  know  where  I  left 
my  hat  ?  " 

I  never  think  of  Pilcher  but  that  two  ideas  are  correlated  with 
his  name.  One  is  Dr.  George  Ryerson  Fowler,  his  surgical  twin,  and 
the  other  is  the  Annals  of  Surgery,  his  surgical  monument. 

The  twins  began  to  collaborate  as  early  as  1878.  They  founded 
the  Brooklyn  Anatomical  and  Surgical  Society  with  Pilcher  as  Presi- 
dent and  Fowler  as  Secretary.  In  fact  it  might  almost  be  said  that 
they  were  "  the  whole  show,"  for  the  twins  did  most  of  the  work  and 
wrote  most  of  the  early  papers.  When  they  had  enrolled  but  25  mem- 
bers they  boldly  launched  the  Annals  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery.  I 
show  you — for  but  few  present  I  suspect  have  ever  seen  it — the  first 
volume — if  one  may  apply  so  stately  a  name  to  so  slender  a  book.  It 
consists  of  only  102  pages  and  this  represented  the  accumulation  of 
two  whole  years,  1 878-1 879.  But  value  does  not  depend  upon  bulk. 
This  little  book  has  two  noteworthy  papers,  one  on  a  complete  "  Bifid 
Sternum  "  and  the  other  is  one  of  the  early  papers  on  a  "  Cervical  Rib." 

I  have  always  been  glad  that  I  helped  them  out  with  two  papers 
in  Vols.  II  and  V. 

The  next  year,  1880,  this  rapidly  growing  infant  had  expanded  into 
one  good-sized  volume  and  from  then  on — ^but  alas !  not  for  long — 
there  were  two  volumes  in  every  year.  In  January,  1884,  Vol.  IX 
began  bravely  with  its  first  number,  but  chill  winter's  blast  was  fatal. 
With  this  one  gasp  it  gave  up  the  ghost.  As  no  postmortem  was  held  I 
cannot  give  you  the  bibliographical  cause  of  death. 

But  like  the  fabled  Phcenix  from  its  ashes  arose  the  Annals  of 
Surgery.  This  for  many  years  was  the  only  and  is  still  the  best  Surgi- 
cal Journal  in  the  English  language.  Even  to-day  it  has  but  one  rival, 
and  I  am  glad  to  add  a  worthy  rival,  the  British  JournoJl  of  Surgery. 

Instead  of  one  volume  for  two  years  we  have  had  year  after  year 
two  impressive  volumes  of  nearly  2000  pages  filled  with  the  best  text 
and  the  finest  "  cuts  "  as  befits  a  Surgical  Journal.  Any  Surgeon  who 
knows  the  contents  of  these  63  volumes  from  title-page  to  colophon  is 
well  equipped. 

This  is  Pilcher's  monument,  more  enduring  than  brass.  Other 
names  have  appeared  on  its  title-page  as  his  colleagues,  but  when  all  is 
said  and  done  it  is  evident  that  Pilcher  is  the  Annals.  It  typifies  his 
own  personality — four  square  to  all  the  winds  of  heaven,  accurate, 
scientific,  practical,  illustrated  and  illustrious,  like  its  Editor,  Lewis 
Stephen  Pilcher,  to  whom  I  gladly  express  our  admiration  and  our 
heartiest  congratulations. 

56 


IX 

LEWIS  STEPHEN  PILCHER'S  INFLUENCE  ON  SURGERY. 
REMARKS  BY  WILLIAM  J.  MAYO,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  F.R.C.S. 
(ENG.),  OF  ROCHESTER,  MINN. 


LEWIS  STEPHEN  PILCHER^S 
INFLUENCE  ON  SURGERY 

Remarks  by  Dr.  William  J.  Mayo 

It  is  my  pleasant  privilege  to  speak  of  Dr.  Pilcher's  influence  on 
surgery,  not  only  the  surgery  of  America,  but  that  of  the  civilized  world. 
What  memories  must  be  those  of  our  honored  guest  who,  in  his  fifty 
years  of  service,  has  seen  surgical  science  in  the  making,  who  has  seen 
it  emerge  from  the  fog  of  fancy  and  superstition  to  a  sound  basis  in 
fact,  and  has  played  so  great  a  part  in  enabling  it  tO'  reach  its  present 
exalted  position. 

In  judging  the  worth  of  a  surgeon,  four  points  must  be  taken  into 
consideration :  First,  originality ;  second,  ability  as  a  teacher  by  word 
of  mouth ;  third,  the  value  of  teachings  by  the  written  word ;  and  fourth, 
ability  as  an  operator  and  technician. 

The  type  of  originality  we  call  genius,  to  which  discoveries  marking 
epochs  in  surgery  are  due,  is  given  to  but  few  men.  Of  these  Lister 
was  a  most  notable  illustration.  The  type  of  which  Billroth  was  a 
distinguished  example,  and  which  perhaps  does  not  rise  to  a  height 
to  be  called  genius,  has  been  given  to  many  men.  The  latter  phase  of 
originality  may  best  be  characterized  as  "  scientific  imagination,  carry- 
ing with  it  a  talent  for  work."  Scientific  imagination  reasons  from 
things  known  to  things  unknown,  clarifying  and  solving  problems  by 
what  may  appear  at  first  to  be  merely  an  hypothesis,  a  leap  in  the  dark, 
but  which  is  seen  soon  to  have  sound  footing  in  fact.  It  is  from  men 
of  this  second  type  of  originality  that  the  great  progress  and  the  most 
practical  results  in  surgery  have  come,  and  the  labors  of  genius  made 
profitable. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  review  here  the  remarkable  advance  that 
has  resulted  from  the  more  or  less  concerted  efforts  of  surgeons  gifted 
with  scientific  imagination.  Science  knows  no  frontiers.  Men  of  all 
civilized  countries  have  played  a  part,  Kuttner,  Lexer,  Trendelenburg 
and  Bier  in  Germany ;  Lane,  Horsley,  Robson  and  Moynihan  in  Great 
Britain,  Schoemaker  and  Rotgans  in  Holland ;  Tuffier,  Hartmann,  and 
Gosset  in  France ;  Bastianelli  and  Alessandri  in  Italy ;  Ott  and  Federoff 
in  Russia;  von  Eiselsberg  and  Hochenegg  in  Austria;  Eli  Krogius  in 
Finland;  Nicholayson  and  Bull  in  Norway;  Berg  and  Borelius  in 
iSweden ;  DePage  and  Lambotte  in  Belgium.  These  are  but  a  few  well- 
known  examples  of  men  who  have  played  a  part  in  this  work. 

59 


It  is  curious  that  of  the  great  number  of  men  who  have  done  high 
grade  original  work  so  few  have  attained  distinction  as  public  speakers. 
In  general,  surgeons  are  not  orators.  Pilcher,  Murphy,  Brewer,  and 
DaCosta  are  exceptions  to  the  common  rule.  However,  teachers  of  the 
highest  grade  who  have  influenced  a  few  students  to  great  deeds — who 
have,  so  to  speak,  handed  the  lighted  lamp  of  science  to  the  select  few — 
are  not  uncommon.  Halsted  developed  a  true  school  of  surgery,  as  have 
also  Bevan,  Brewer,  and  the  late  Christian  Fenger.  To  you  physicians 
of  Brooklyn,  I  need  not  say  how  great  has  been  the  part  played  by 
Dr.  Pilcher  and  also  the  late  Dr.  Fowler.  The  assistants  of  these  men 
and  others  like  them  will  dominate  the  next  generation  of  American 
surgeons  as  the  students  of  Billroth  and  Volkmann  dominate  the  German 
school  of  to-day. 

In  the  third  group — the  men  who  have  taught  by  means  of  the  written 
word — no  man  in  this  country  occupies  a  higher  place  than  Dr.  Pilcher, 
the  editor  of  the  Annals  of  Surgery,  the  foremost  surgical  journal  in 
any  language.  Under  his  fostering  care  this  journal  has  grown  from 
its  small  beginning  in  St.  Louis  to  its  present  magnitude.  On  this 
occasion  I  wish  to  express  my  sincere  appreciation  of  its  worth.  I 
have  read  every  number  from  its  beginning,  and  nearly  every  article. 
Many  of  these  contributions,  and  I  wish  there  had  been  more,  were 
from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Pilcher  himself ;  sane,  sound,  couched  in  the  most 
beautiful  and  classical  English,  with  a  balance  of  expression  giving 
just  the  right  emphasis  to  each  statement,  and  with  a  remarkable  clear- 
ness of  diction.  I  well  remember  the  kindly  way  in  which  Dr.  Pilcher 
corrected  the  subject  matter  and  also  the  English  and  composition  of 
the  earher  papers  I  sent  to  the  Annals. 

By  means  of  the  printed  word,  Pilcher  has  not  only  taught  us  surgery 
through  his  own  experience,  but  he  has  presented  to  us  the  results  of 
the  best  surgical  investigations  of  our  own  country  and  abroad. 

When  we  come  to  the  fourth  consideration  on  which  we  base  the 
worth  of  surgeons,  that  is,  ability  as  operators  and  technicians,  Ameri- 
can surgeons  stand  high.  Germany  is  the  only  country  which  has 
established  a  national  school  of  surgery,  and  has  been  the  least  in- 
fluenced by  outside  opinion.  By  force  of  merit  and  cold  logic,  so  to 
speak,  Germany  has  forced  acceptance  of  its  views  upon  the  world. 
However,  the  very  national  character  of  Germany's  undertaking  has 
been  America's  opportunity.  American  surgery  is  cosmopolitan.  It 
represents  the  best  in  England,  France,  Italy  and  all  countries,  and, 
while  modelled  largely  upon  the  German,  has  greater  freedom  of  initia- 
tive and  gives  greater  opportunity  for  creative  work  to  men  of  genius 
and  talent. 

As  we  travel  about  the  country  we  find  hospitals  widely  distributed 

60 


and  note  that  surgical  work  is  being  done  not  only  in  the  centres  of 
population  but  also  in  the  smaller  cities  and  towns  and  even  in  the 
villages.  During  a  recent  trip  to  the  South  I  was  very  much  impressed 
by  organizations  composed  of  only  a  single  practitioner  and  two  nurses, 
one  to  give  the  anaesthetic  and  the  other  to  assist  in  the  operation.  These 
organizations  are  doing  a  high  grade  of  surgical  work,  particularly  in 
meeting  emergency  conditions.  No  country  in  the  world  but  America 
could  have  developed  a  sufficient  number  of  able  surgeons  so  that  every 
hamlet  might  have  a  competent  man,  in  no  other  country  are  the  possi- 
bilities so  great.  In  the  diffusion  of  the  surgical  knowledge  necessary 
for  such  remarkable  results,  no  factor  has  been  more  important  than 
Dr.  Pilcher  and  the  Annals  of  Surgery.  For  this  and  for  his  person- 
ality, that  of  a  kindly  modest  gentleman,  we  pay  Dr.  Pilcher  to-day 
the  tribute  of  our  highest  respect  and  admiration. 


X 

AN  APPRECIATION  FROM  THE  CHARAKA  CLUB, 
BY  CHARLES  L.  DANA,  M.D.,  LL.D. 


AN  APPRECIATION  FROM  THE 
CHARAKA  CLUB 

By  Db.  Charles  L.  Dana 

May  14,  1916. 
My  dear  Pilcher  : 

I  had  this  inscription  ready  for  you  the  other  night,  but  it  seemed  too 
trivial  for  so  great  an  occasion  and  I  disappeared  with  it  into  the  night. 

I  send  it  along  now,  however,  because  I  know  it  will  amuse  you  and 
perhaps  help  to  restore  you  from  the  reaction  after  so  much  formal 
tribute  of  praise. 

I  add  again  my  congratulations  to  you  and  my  admiration  over  the 
wonderful  aggregation  of  friends  your  career  and  character  brought  out. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Chas.  L.  Dana, 
ad  amicos 

In  the  fourteenth  century  the  celebrated  anatomist  and  surgeon, 
Mundinus  of  Bologna^  wrote  a  work  on  anatomy — and  a  very  good  one 
for  its  day. 

Two  hundred  years  later,  the  book  was  getting  out  of  date,  and 
Jacob  Berengarius  Carpus  of  Modena,  Teacher  of  Surgery,  published  a 
new  edition  with  comments  and  illustrations. 

About  four  hundred  years  later  still,  Dr.  Lewis  S.  Pilcher,  of 
Brooklyn,  rescued  a  copy  of  this  work  from  a  book  shop  in  Florence. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  work  is  a  Latin  poem  written  by  Dr. 
Vergilius  Hierardus  of  Bologna,  and  dedicated  tO'  the  learned  Dominus 
and  Magister  Jacobus  Berengarius  Carpus. 

This  inscription,  published  in  Venice  in  1523,  fits  so  well  to  the 
character  and  work  of  Lewis  S.  Pilcher  that  it  was  transcribed  and 
adapted  to  the  anniversary  of  this  modern  Teacher  of  Surgery,  Dominus, 
Magister  Pilcher  by  Dr.  Charles  L.  Dana,  of  Manhattan,  May  13,  1916. 

To  Dr.  Lewis  Pilcher. 
"  Grande  Senis  Choi  decus  et  podalyria  proles." 

"  With  what  great  piety  and  with  what  ardor  wert  thou  impelled,  O  Carpus 

[Berengarius  Pilcher], 
Great  ornament  and  Podalyriac  offspring  of  the  Ancient 
Choir,  to  snatch  Mundinus,  gasping  his  last  breath,  and 
Save  him  joyfully  from  the  pale  shades  [of  Olski's  Book  Shop] 
Alas  for  me,  how  many  and  how  great  are  the  heroic  writers  of  books 

65 


I  have  seen  who  have  suffered  loss  of  ancient  honor 

And  born  for  many  years  the  cruel  wounds  of  neglect ! 

And  how  much  faithful  study  did  the  Fathers   [Mundinus  and  Pilcher  and 

Carpus]  bring  to 
The  inner  part  of  man,  while  opening  it  with  a  gentle 
Blade,  showing  to  us  the  works  of  nature  and  the  secrets  of 
The  unknown. 

Thou  art  that  one,  good  Carpus  [Berengarius  Pilcher],  thou  art  he  to  whom 
The  land  of  Renegenus  and  the  Latin  race  shall  put  up  many  vows 
And  the  sons  of  Galen  sing  praises,  for  you  have  greatly  served 
Them,  and  have  truly  become  the  twin  in  glory  with  Mundinus." 


XI 

GREETINGS  FROM  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  THE 
STATE  OF  NEW  YORK.  REMARKS  BY  HON. 
JOHN  H.  FINLEY,  LL.D.,  COMMISSIONER  OF 
EDUCATION  AND  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNI- 
VERSITY OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK 


GREETINGS  FROM  THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK 

By  Hon.  John  H.  Finley,  LL.D. 

Dr.  Pilcher  and  Friends  of  Dr.  Pilcher: 

I  have  travelled  a  thousand  miles  to  attend  this  dinner  in  honor  of 
Dr.  Pilcher.  At  this  hour  last  night  I  was  speaking  on  a  platform 
beyond  the  Michigan,  where  Dr.  Pilcher  was  born.  Though  I  have 
arrived  too  late  for  the  feast,  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  say  a  word,  even  if 
a  breathless  and  inadequate  word,  for  this  great  State  and  its  invisible 
and  all-embracing  University,  in  honor  of  Dr.  Pilcher.  I  would  seem 
to  be  like  unto  the  dog  referred  to  by  my  dear  and  eloquent  friend, 
Dr.  Cadman,  a  moment  ago,  for  I  did  catch  the  Twentieth  Century 
Limited.  It  remains  for  me  to  make  the  demonstration  which  the 
up-State  local  philosopher  awaited,  and  show  what  I'll  do  with  it  now 
that  I  have  caught  it.  We  spend  a  great  deal  of  energy  running  for 
trains  and  too  often  haven't  much  to  show  for  the  time  we've  saved 
in  hurrying. 

I  am  glad  that  the  distinguished  guest  of  the  evening  is  permitted  or 
compelled  at  last  to  know  the  meaning  of  a  "  major  operation  "  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  patient.  I  assume  that  he  has  even  declined 
the  administration  of  an  anaesthetic.  This  operation  is  one  which  is 
rarely  performed.  It  is  a  heart  operation,  technically  known  as  cardio- 
saltus ;  and  is  performed  by  the  use  of  words  instead  of  scalpel,  or  other 
surgical  instruments.  And  no  license  is  required  of  the  practitioner 
(though  if  we  continue  to  exact  licenses  we  shall  some  day  come  to 
after-dinner  speakers  as  well).  The  nature  of  the  operation  is  this: 
The  heart  of  the  patient  is  so  stirred  (by  such  words  as  those  of 
Dr.  Campbell,  whom  I  once  heard  speaking  with  such  eloquence  in  the 
Yellowstone  Park  that  an  eagle  soaring  in  the  empyrean  paused  in  its 
wheeling  flight  to  look  and  listen  with  envy)  that  it  leaps  into  his  throat 
(a  phenomenon  well  known  to  public  speakers  but  not  generally  known 
to  surgeons).  The  next  step  is  to  take  advantage  of  this  absence  of 
the  heart  and  reline  the  pericardium  with  a  coating  that  makes  it  imper- 
vious to  worry  or  emotional  unhappiness  of  any  kind.  The  coating  is 
a  secretion  obtained  by  tapping  the  hearts  of  honest  friends,  and  is 
called  hemo-cardi-amicus. 

69 


This  operation,  I  ought  to  say  by  way  of  caution,  cannot  safely  be 
performed  on  one  who  has  not  led  a  useful,  honest  and  unselfish  life. 
It  is  gratifying  to  know,  as  was  anticipated,  that  our  distinguished 
patient  gives  signs  that  in  his  case  the  operation  has  been  successful. 

The  savages  have  a  notion  that  the  valorous  qualities  of  those  whom 
they  slay  are  added  to  their  own  and  so  their  passion  to  kill  is  strength- 
ened. It  is  a  more  civilized  and  sensible  theory  to  assume  that  all  the 
years  of  happiness  of  the  lives  which  a  physician  saves  and  prolongs  are 
added  to  his.  Applying  this  benign  theory  to  the  case  in  hand,  we  shall 
find  that  Dr.  Pilcher  has  already  lived  longer  than  the  sum  of  the  years 
of  the  race  since  history  began.  It  is  not  fifty,  but  ten  thousand,  years 
of  practice  that  we  celebrate,  and  for  every  year  of  his  own  added  life 
a  thousand  years  will  be  added. 

We  who  are  not  real  doctors  must  all  of  us  sometimes  envy  you 
your  satisfactions — the  satisfactions  of  knowing  that  you  have  actually 
saved  and  prolonged  life.  We  who  have  to  do  with  the  psychic  bacteria 
only  or  chiefly  (such  as  bacillus  parasiticus,  spirillum  tardum,  micro- 
coccus egotisticus)  can  seldom  know  whether  we  have  made  an  indi- 
vidual life  better  or  nobler  by  all  our  practice.  However,  we  go  forward 
in  faith. 

But  I  have  come  all  this  way  not  to  express  my  personal  felicitations, 
but  to  express  the  gratitude  of  the  State  for  what  you  have  done  in  the 
cause  of  your  humane  and  learned  profession.  You  have  not  only  given 
a  son  to  serve  in  high  capacity  this  State,  but  for  many  years  you  have 
yourself  given  faithful  and  efficient  and  honorable  service  to  this  same 
State  in  determining  who  shall  be  set  apart  to  this  noble  and  sacred 
ministry  of  medicine,  to  the  study  and  care  of  what  Sir  Thomas  Browne, 
one  of  your  own  profession,  in  his  Religio  Medici,  called,  "  that  bold  and 
adventurous  piece  of  nature  which  he  that  studies  wisely  learns  in  a 
compendium  what  others  labor  at  in  a  divided  piece  and  endless  volume.*' 

I  give  you  as  my  wish  for  your  after  days  the  prayer  of  this  same 
physician,  eminent  for  all  time,  for  your  own : 

"  Bless  me  in  this  life  with  but  peace  of  Conscience,  command  of 
my  afifections,  the  love  of  Thyself  and  my  dearest  friends.  .  .  . 
These  are,  O  Lord,  the  humble  desires  of  my  most  reasonable  ambition 
and  all  I  dare  call  happiness  on  earth." 


XII 

"THE  MAN!"  REMARKS  BY  THE  REV. 
S.  PARKES  CADMAN,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  PASTOR 
OF  THE  CENTRAL  CONGREGATIONAL 
CHURCH  OF  BROOKLYN 


THE  MAN! 

Remarks  by  Rev.  S.  Parkes  Cadman,  D.D. 

I  have  seldom  found  myself  so  completely  at  fault  as  at  the  present 
moment,  when  I  stand  a  solitary  cleric  surrounded  by  the  foremost 
representatives  of  the  surgical  profession,  and  recall  the  long,  needless 
and  disastrous  conflict  between  faith  and  organized  knowledge.  No 
elusive  rhetoric  will  serve  my  turn,  nor  avail  to  conceal  my  dense  igno- 
rance upon  vital  questions  which  are  paramount  with  you.  I  could  well 
wish  it  were  otherwise,  and  that  I  was  the  fortunate  possessor  of  suffi- 
cient information  to  do  justice  to  this  occasion.  Yet  I  am  greatly 
honored  in  being  invited  here,  and  I  cheerfully  add  my  feeble  testimony 
to  the  glorious  profession  of  which  our  honored  guest  has  long  been 
an  illustrious  member.  It  is  in  the  direct  line  of  succession  from  the 
Man  of  Galilee,  and  confers  upon  its  followers  a  priesthood  and  a 
ministry  which  have  received  the  grateful  acknowledgment  of  civiliza- 
tion. Moreover,  permit  me  to  say  that  the  antagonism  between  matters 
of  religious  belief  and  those  of  natural  phenomena  is  largely  a  facti- 
tious one;  fabricated,  on  the  one  hand,  by  zealots  who  have  confused 
mortal  creeds  with  the  divine  faith  they  were  meant  to  embody  and, 
on  the  other,  by  narrow  theorists  who  forgot  that  science  dealt  only 
with  the  physical  side  of  the  universe.  The  crass  philosophies  and 
heathen  survivals  under  which  true  spirituality  has  so  often  been 
interred  and  the  raw  rationalizings  of  ardent  devotees  who  have  been 
oblivious  to  the  major  fact  that  science,  while  supreme  in  its  own  sphere 
is  impotent  beyond  it,  have  alike  delayed  the  era  of  adjustment  and 
reconciliation.  Stripped  of  these  sentimental  and  superfluous  accre- 
tions, both  the  clerical  and  medical  professions  will  eventually  combine  to 
win  the  goal  of  human  progress  in  peace  of  soul  and  health  of  body. 
Nor  do  I  forget  that  the  functions  of  religion  have  been  freed  from 
the  entanglements  of  superstition.  Men  of  learning  are  entitled  tO'  the 
warmest  admiration  and  appreciation  from  the  saints.  They  have 
helped  to  moralize  the  thinking  of  the  Church.  Their  discoveries, 
many  of  which  have  rocked  in  the  cradle  of  biology,  have  grown  apace 
and  spread  into  widely  separated  areas.  Evolution  has  escaped  the 
hypothesis  of  Darwinism,  and  is  now  operative  in  history,  in  literature, 
in  arts  and  in  the  discernment  of  those  slow  laborious  processes  by 
means  of  which  man  has  achieved  his  present  acquaintance  with  un- 
seen realities.  The  sense  of  our  frailty,  even  at  the  best;  the  feeling 
that  there  is  an  open  secret  which  we  cannot  penetrate,  wherein  lies 
the  quintessence  of  all  that  is  holy  and  universal,  should  himible  and 

73 


chasten  every  seeker  after  truth.  Yet  he  may  look  forward  tO'  that 
maturity  of  the  race,  when  there  will  be  one  kind  of  knowledge,  and 
one  method  for  its  acquirement ;  when  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism, 
will  symbolize  our  common  heritage  in  God,  wdth  whom  all  truth, 
whenever  found  and  followed,  is  forever  one  unity. 

Toward  this  end  Dr.  Pilcher  has  wrought  in  season  and  out  of 
season.  Concerning  his  reputation  as  a  skilful  and  gifted  practitioner, 
it  is  a  subject  of  honest  pride  on  our  part  that  he  sets  the  pace  for  you, 
and  that  his  writings  and  his  deeds  conspire  to  assign  him  a  place 
among  the  few  who  have  eclipsed  miracle,  lighten  toil  in  behalf  of  the 
reHef  of  suffering  and  the  preservation  of  life.  But  constant  reference 
has  been  made  by  previous  speakers  to  his  personal  character.  This 
they  have  enthroned  because  what  a  man  is  transcends  anything  he 
does.  The  robes  of  fame  rest  on  a  gentleman's  shoulders,  one  fitted  to 
wear  them  without  discredit ;  one  who  brings  to  his  daily  pursuits  the 
conscience  which  governs  intelligence ;  who  does  not  stultify  the  one  by 
violating  the  other.  As  I  understand  it,  character  is  our  only  real 
wealth,  and  furnishes  all  we  can  carry  across  the  abysmal  divide  into 
eternity.  In  this  respect,  so  superior  and  important,  Dr.  Pilcher  has 
profoundly  impressed  his  colleagues  and  his  pupils.  Had  he  been 
other  than  he  is,  we  should  not  have  been  here.  And  in  the  final 
analysis,  the  virtues  which  have  made  him  virile  and  enabled  others  to 
grow  straight  in  the  strength  of  his  spirit  are  the  momentous  things. 
The  law  of  hereditary  influence  should  be  dealt  with  in  his  case.  For 
his  father  was  one  of  the  heroical  band  of  itinerant  preachers  who 
followed  that  Bishop  of  the  long  road,  the  justly  celebrated  Francis 
Asbury.  No  nobler  figure  emerged  from  the  chaos  and  strife  of  the 
Revolution  than  Asbury's.  What  Washington  did  for  the  nascenl 
commonwealth,  this  Bishop  of  Apostolic  fire  and  fervor  did  for  the 
infant  Church.  This  fellow  laborer  imitated  his  example,  and  planted 
the  fellowship  of  the  Gospel  in  virgin  territories.  They  rode  along 
the  Atlantic  coast  and  over  the  AUeghenies  to  rescue  and  shepherd  the 
multitudes  who  were  without  hope  or  faith.  Not  only  the  churches, 
but  the  cities  and  villages  which  arose  on  every  side  were  in  numerous 
instances  planted  by  them.  They  built  the  schools  and  the  colleges  and 
endowed  them  out  of  their  poverty.  Hardship  was  their  daily  lot,  upon 
which  these  scarred  veterans  of  the  Cross  reckoned,  despising  the  afflic- 
tions they  endured  because  they  were  sustained  by  a  radiant  experience 
and  a  quenchless  love.  Such  was  the  God-fearing,  God-honoring  ances- 
try from  which  the  Doctor  sprang.  And  who  shall  calculate  his  in- 
debtedness to  the  devotion,  the  piety,  the  prayers,  the  constraint  of 
his  parentage.  Behind  the  man  of  culture,  of  attributes,  of  sagacity, 
of  surgical  power,  stand  these  silent  witnesses  who  are  not  far  from  us 

74 


now  and  whose  quiet  consecrated  lives  have  been  the  explanation  of 
their  son's  record.  Qiaracter  depends  upon  what  we  do  not  see.  Its 
sources  are  ethereal,  imponderable.  They  yield  to  no  chemic  test,  no 
scalpel's  sweep.  They  involve  faith  in  a  supreme  righteousness,  in  the 
law  of  conduct,  in  the  trustworthiness  of  moral  instincts,  in  the  validity 
of  venerable  and  salvatory  beliefs.  What  the  gold  standard  is  to 
financial  stability,  these  beliefs  are  to  a  proportioned  vision  of  exist- 
ence. We  are  made  aware  by  them  that  human  values  do  not  rely  upon 
the  length  of  days,  be  they  few  or  short,  but  upon  what  we  have  been 
and  done  and  upon  what  we  have  aspired  to  be  and  to  do.  The  whole 
probation  of  Time  is  but  a  preparation  for  further  character  and  further 
service.  Physicians  who  neglect  these  fundamental  considerations,  or 
who  are  so  absorbed  in  material  appearances  as  to  forget  they  are  noth- 
ing more  than  a  muddy  vesture  of  decay,  can  rest  assured  that  they 
have  forfeited  the  luster  of  their  calling.  I  rejoice  with  all  his  brethren 
in  our  dear  friend's  genuine  and  lasting  success,  but  I  unhesitatingly 
ascribe  it,  first,  to  his  hold  on  spiritual  verities  and  next  to  the  appren- 
ticeship to  duty  which  has  been  his  unfailing  guide  and  guardian.  One 
illustration  must  suffice.  When  he  stood  on  the  threshold  of  manhood, 
filled  with  those  buoyant  anticipations  for  which  youth  is  the  proper 
season,  the  nation  became  imperilled  by  a  fearful  war.  Had  Dr. 
Pilcher  lingered  in  the  rear,  he  might  have  been  justified.  Many  who 
afterwards  reached  social  distinction  did  not  join  the  hosts  on  land  and 
sea  which  resisted  the  destruction  of  American  ideals.  But  he  laid 
aside  his  dreams  of  preferment  and  station  and  risked  everything  for 
his  country.  His  reward  is  with  him,  in  that  internal  satisfaction 
which  can  only  be  purchased  by  sacrificial  conduct,  and  in  the  loving 
appreciation  of  these  veterans  at  the  board  and  of  the  people  he  helped 
at  a  crisis.  Moreover,  "  the  lady  with  the  flowers  "  to  whom  he  has 
paid  an  exquisite  literary  tribute  was  found  by  him  as  he  walked  his 
appointed  way,  and  she  entered  his  life  to  give  double  benefit  to  all  its 
offices  and  engagements.  Children  have  been  bestowed  on  them  who 
have  risen  to  call  him  blessed.  Sorrow  has  poured  out  its  bitter  waters 
upon  them.  Yet  a  sorrow  sweetened  by  memories  and  anticipations 
which  death  cannot  hurt,  indeed,  can  but  dignify.  The  future  is 
golden !  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Pilcher  come  to  their  eventide  bathed  in  a  mel- 
low glow,  which  the  night  shall  linger  to  disturb.  Observing  him  as  a 
husband,  a  father,  a  renowned  physician,  a  soldier,  a  patriot,  a  scholar, 
and  a  gentleman,  we  honor  God  in  honoring  him,  and  we  are  conscious 
that  whatever  leaps  to  light  he  never  shall  be  shamed.  Those  who 
supped  with  the  sages  had  a  rich  taste  in  their  mouths  the  next  morn- 
ing. To-night  we  have  been  thus  employed ;  to-morrow  we  shall  look 
back  on  what  has  been  said  and  done  here  with  contentment ;  and  in 
the  great  day,  whenever  it  breaks,  we  shall  be  perfected. 

75 


xm 

PRESENTATION  OF  MEDAL,  BY  JAMES 
P.  WARBASSE,  M.D.,  SURGEON  TO  THE 
GERMAN  HOSPITAL  OF  BROOKLYN 


.^ 


.•^-  ^  - 


'Y 


-y 


^ 


/ 


\ 


"  "  ! ,'-  <    '         /->      ~ 


\ 


PRESENTATION  OF  MEDAL 

By  Dr.  James  P.  Warbasse 
Doctor  Pilcher: 

It  is  my  happy  privilege  to  present  a  token,  which  shall  be  an  ex- 
pression of  the  love  and  loyalty  of  friends. 

I  trust  it  is  no  surprise  to  you — no  more  than  is  this  company, 
assembled  here  to  do  you  honor. 

There  are  no  surprises  for  him  who  lives  a  well-ordered  life.  Who 
sows  seeds  is  not  surprised  when  a  harvest  comes  up.  Who  plants  a 
rose-tree  and  nurtures  it  in  his  garden  is  not  surprised  when  roses 
bloom.  And  he,  who  in  a  life  of  useful  service  is  true  to  high  ideals, 
need  not  be  surprised  at  the  love  and  loyalty  of  friends. 

We  would  not  have  you  believe  that  we  esteem  you  as  a  being 
created  of  different  clay  from  ourselves.  We  are  aware  that  you  have 
struggled  with  the  human  qualities  which  are  common  to  all  of  us. 
There  have  been  occasions  when  you  seemed,  perhaps,  dictatorial,  un- 
compromising, assertive,  inflexible.  But  these  usually  were  evidences 
of  strength,  and  of  the  character  which  dominates  in  the  name  of 
righteousness.  You  are  loved  because  your  hand  that  is  strong  is  also 
tender. 

To  commemorate  the  occasion  which  we  here  celebrate  this  gold 
medal  has  been  made.  On  one  side  is  a  relief  portrait  of  yourself,  as 
true  as  art  can  reproduce  human  expression.  Around  it  are  the  words : 
"  Lewis  Stephen  Pilcher."  On  the  obverse  side  is  the  simple  legend : 
"  To  commemorate  fifty  years  of  medical  practice.  Surgeon,  Author, 
Editor,  Patriot."  Surgeon,  because  you  are  the  master  of  a  beneficent 
art ;  Author,  because  your  pen  has  enriched  and  illuminated  the  litera- 
ture of  surgery;  Editor,  because  you  have  created  and  maintained  a 
great  surgical  journal;  Patriot,  because  you  have  loved  your  country 
and  your  fellow-men,  and  desired  for  them  life  in  greater  abundance. 

This  medal  is  the  conception  of  loving  hearts  and  the  product  of 
skilled  hands.  A  few  copies  have  been  made  in  bronze,  which  will  be 
placed  in  the  great  libraries,  and  a  few  in  the  possession  of  your  inti- 
mate friends.  The  die  from  which  they  were  made  has  been  destroyed. 
This  medal  is  now  already  rare  and  without  price. 

The  destruction  of  the  die  signifies  the  mutability  of  things;  the 
preservation  of  these  impressions  in  gold  and  bronze  signifies  the 
imperishability  of  character,  which  you  have  exemplified. 

This  is  but  an  expression  of  our  poor  attempt  to  create  for  you 

79 


something  of  enduring  significance — of  the  substances  which  the  rust 
of  time  does  not  assail.  But  how  far  you  have  surpassed  our  efforts ! 
You  have  wrought  for  yourself,  out  of  the  plastic  material  of  character, 
nobiHty  of  your  own  design,  loftiness  of  purpose,  fidelity  to  ideals; 
and  the  die  is  not  destroyed.  You  have  created  an  immortaHty  in  the 
souls  of  men  which  is  as  enduring  as  mankind  itself,  transcending  that 
of  gold  or  bronze,  imperishable,  which  fire  nor  flood  may  not  destroy 
nor  time  corrupt. 

This  medal  is  the  expression  of  our  gratitude.  You  have  done  so 
much  for  us!  You  have  given  us  courage  when  we  faltered.  You 
have  never  abandoned  the  search  for  truth.  You  have  ever  taught  us 
that  the  little  things  should  be  done  as  though  they  were  great.  You 
have  honored  the  details  which  are  the  seeds  of  success.  May  we  be 
inspired  to  rededicate  ourselves  to  these  ideals  for  which  you  stand. 

Your  precepts  have  squared  with  your  actions.  After  all,  the  only 
things  in  which  we  have  any  property  rights  are  our  actions.  Our 
thoughts  may  produce  no  fruit.  Friends,  fortune,  health,  reputation 
may  all  be  swept  away.  But  our  actions  prevail  against  everything. 
Of  them  alone  it  cannot  be  said  that  we  go  out  of  the  world  naked,  for 
they  clothe  us  as  a  vestment,  of  which  we  cannot  be  disinherited. 
And  it  is  upon  your  actions,  upon  the  things  that  you  have  done,  that 
we  now  bestow  our  tribute. 

In  presenting  this  medal  to  you  in  the  name  of  those  who  are  here 
and  in  behalf  of  the  countless  numbers  who  are  not  here — an  admiring 
profession  and  a  grateful  humanity — there  goes  with  it  the  wish  that 
your  future  years  may  be  as  happy  as  your  past  have  been  fruitful  and 
glorious. 


80 


XIV 

RESPONSE  BY 
DR.  LEWIS  STEPHEN  PILCHER 


RESPONSE  BY 
DR.  LEWIS  STEPHEN  PILCHER 

This  golden  medallion  is  a  form  of  testimonial  than  which  none 
could  be  more  highly  appreciated  by  me.  I  accept  it  gratefully  as  a 
possession  which  I  shall  hold  dear,  not  only  for  its  intrinsic  worth  and 
its  artistic  merit,  but  especially  as  a  token  of  your  esteem,  of  your 
confidence  and  your  affection.  Canvas  will  perish ;  a  print  is  but  for  a 
few  years  at  longest,  but  a  sculptured  portrait  preserved  in  untamish- 
able  metal  is  everlasting.  It  is  only  to  be  surpassed  by  the  subtle 
spiritual  influence  of  character  by  which  a  man  becomes  his  own  sculp- 
tor and  which  remains  forever  a  monument  more  enduring  than  brass. 

What  can  I  say  at  such  a  time  as  this?  After  so  many  years  of 
strenuous  life  to  find  that  I  have  Friends  is  a  joy  indeed.  The  gener- 
ous meed  with  which  the  gifts  of  friendship  and  the  expressions  of 
esteem  have  been  bestowed  upon  me  commands  my  deepest  gratitude. 
I  know  that  far  beyond  my  personal  deserts  these  gifts  have  been 
bestowed,  so  that  whatever  of  elation  such  applause  may  have  excited 
has  been  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  sense  of  humiliation  which 
comes  from  my  knowledge  of  how  far  short  I  have  come  of  having  de- 
served it.  Rather  would  I  regard  these  commendations  as  given  chiefly 
to  the  noble  profession  of  which  I  am  a  member,  realizing  that  only  in  the 
measure,  however  faulty,  with  which  the  individual  may  have  exempli- 
fied in  his  career  the  traits  which  universal  opinion  assigns  to  the  pro- 
fession as  a  whole  could  the  most  complacent  of  physicians  claim  to 
begin  to  merit  the  plaudits  you  have  bestowed. 

In  the  morning  of  March  17,  1866,  as  a  very  young  man  about  to 
graduate  from  the  Medical  School  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  I 
came  to  Brooklyn  as  an  applicant  for  appointment  to  the  Medical 
Service  of  the  U.  S.  Navy  to  present  myself  before  the  Examining 
Board,  then  in  session  at  the  Naval  Hospital  of  Brooklyn.  I  still 
retain  a  vivid  recollection  of  how  beautiful  the  morning  was  with  the 
sunshine  and  the  waving  of  flags  and  the  "  wearing  of  the  green,"  for 
it  was  St.  Patrick's  day.  One  year  later,  having  received  the  coveted 
position,  I  found  myself  assigned  to  the  same  Naval  Hospital  as  one  of 
its  medical  staff.  Thus  began  an  association  with  Brooklyn,  which  was 
to  become  more  intimate  as  the  years  passed  by  and  which  has  cul- 
minated in  these  greetings  from  my  neighbors  and  friends,  fifty  years 
later.  I  cannot  help  but  feel  that  the  promising  omens  of  that 
St.  Patrick's  morning  so  long  ago  have  been  fully  realized  by  the 
fortunes  which  tlie  later  years  have  brought  me. 

83 


I  will  not  detain  you  with  further  reference  to  the  years  of  my 
naval  service  nor  to  the  first  years  spent  in  the  efforts  to  establish  myself 
in  private  work  as  one  of  Brooklyn's  physicians.  Eighteen  strenuous 
years,  afloat  and  ashore,  had  passed  thus  quickly  when  in  1885  I  was 
confronted  by  an  important  crisis. 

I  had  recently  been  appointed  to  the  chair  of  Clinical  Surgery  in  the 
Post-Graduate  Medical  School  of  New  York,  which  had  been  made 
vacant  by  the  death  of  James  L.  Little.  With  this  appointment  came 
the  temptation  to  transfer  my  residence  to  Manhattan,  for  if  I  went 
to  Manhattan  I  would  have  back  of  me  the  influence  of  the  institution 
in  which  I  had  been  given  so  prominent  and  honorable  a  position.  It 
was  urged  plausibly  also  that  a  wider  field  of  influence  would  attend 
residence  in  the  centre  of  metropolitan  affairs.  These  arguments  gave 
me  pause  and  many  hours  of  careful  thought.  Moreover,  any  expecta- 
tions of  local  advantage  which  I  may  have  been  indulging  from  my 
connection  with  a  new  hospital  in  Brooklyn,  already  well  advanced  in  its 
building,  had  suddenly  been  checked  and  nearly  extinguished  by  the 
financial  reverses  of  its  patron,  which  had  compelled  him  to  leave  it  an 
incompleted  and  unendowed  institution  upon  the  hands  of  an  astonished 
and  dismayed  Board  of  Managers.  Which  was  better  ?  To  plunge  into 
the  vortex  of  professional  strife  in  Manhattan  with  all  its  brilliant  possi- 
bilities, but  with  its  special  drawbacks  as  regards  those  important  ele- 
ments of  life  which  include  the  growth  and  development  of  the  home 
and  the  enjoyment  of  a  more  quiet  and  meditative  life,  the  formation  of 
personal  friendships  and  the  development  of  local  civic  spirit,  or  to 
choose  the  latter,  and  continue  to  devote  myself  to  the  building  up  of 
the  crippled  hospital  enterprise  which  I  had  already  made  the  chief  object 
of  my  endeavors  and  which  I  believed  could,  by  earnest  and  intelligent 
labor,  be  lifted  out  of  its  difficulties  and  placed  upon  a  secure  and  per- 
manent foundation  as  one  of  the  great  charities  of  the  city?  The  final 
decision  was  for  the  Brooklyn  home. 

Over  thirty  years  have  passed  since  the  last  of  those  days  of  per- 
plexity, and  I  have  never  had  reason  to  regret  the  decision  then  made. 

The  hospital  to  which  thenceforward  for  twenty  years  more  I  gave  all 
the  energy  there  was  in  me  as  the  chief  object  of  my  devotion  steadily 
developed ;  its  doors  were  opened  to  the  sick,  and  when  I  finally  retired 
from  its  service  over  30,000  patients  had  already  been  treated  in  its  wards 
and  an  endowment  of  nearly  one  million  of  dollars  had  accumulated  for 
its  support ;  it  had  won  a  high  position  among  the  scientific  and  charitable 
foundations  of  this  country,  and  from  it  had  gone  forth  a  body  of  medi- 
cal alumni  who  are  now  occupying  many  of  the  chief  positions  of  profes- 
sional responsibility  in  this  community.  To  have  had  an  influential  part 
in  the  founding  and  early  shaping  of  the  work  of  such  an  institution  will 

84 


X 
K 

z  ^ 
[/)  ^^ 

p  EC 
S 

s  ^ 

M  n 

o 


r 


ever  remain  a  source  of  the  highest  satisfaction  to  me  as  one  of  the  en- 
during achievements  of  my  work  in  Brooklyn,  but  it  is  the  careers  of  my 
old  assistants  and  internes  that  give  me  the  most  gratification  as  I  review 
the  years  that  have  gone.  They  may  have  learned  something  from  me, 
I  certainly  learned  much  from  them.  If  there  is  anything  now  left  of 
vigor  and  spirit  and  enthusiasm  in  the  "old  man  "  it  is  largely  due  to 
his  association  with  such  young  men.  As  I  see  and  know  of  the  great 
work  they  are  doing,  not  alone  in  this  community  but  in  many  other 
widely  separated  communities,  I  like  to  think  that  I  still  have,  and  shall 
always  have,  some  share  in  the  results  that  they  are  accomplishing,  and 
that  in  the  measure  in  which  they  shall  transmit  their  qualities  and 
knowledge  to  succeeding  generations  of  medical  successors,  I  shall 
enjoy  the  highest  privileges  of  immortality !  To  be  able  to  open  the 
door  of  opportunity  to  a  group  of  eager  young  men  is  a  privilege  to  be 
envied  to  any  man;  to  open  the  door  of  surgical  opportunity  and  to 
add  counsels  and  knowledge,  and  perhaps  example,  that  shall  give  a 
more  adequate  appreciation  of  the  best  and  noblest  aspects  of  surgical 
effort,  what  could  be  finer ! 

It  has  been  often  and  truly  said  that  the  surgeon's  life  is  full  of 
tragedy.  During  much  of  his  time  his  faculties  are  keyed  up  tense, 
and  though  physical  tire  go  hand  in  hand  with  mental  exhaustion,  he  can 
never  lay  down  the  sense  of  responsibility.  Moreover,  the  period 
during  which  he,  as  a  rule,  can  be  expected  to  do  satisfactory  work  is 
but  short.  At  thirty-five  he  has  just  begun  to  earn  that  public  recog- 
nition and  that  degree  of  reputation  which  are  essential  for  professional 
success.  At  sixty-five,  should  he  be  fortunate  enough  to  live  to  see 
that  age,  as  a  rule  his  hand  is  no  longer  steady,  nor  his  eye  so  keen,  as  to 
enable  him  to  discharge  fully  the  responsibilities  of  his  work.  Who 
then  should  grudge  to  the  surgeon  the  fees  which  he  may  earn  during 
the  brief  period  of  his  activity.  Indeed,  an  altogether  mistaken  idea 
is  quite  prevalent  as  to  the  extent  of  the  income  which  attends  the  work 
of  a  surgeon.  Large  fees  are  the  exception ;  small  fees,  or  no  fees  at 
all,  are  the  rule.  That  quality  of  mind  which  tends  to  make  a  man 
a  successful  surgeon  is  not  one  that  is  likely  to  make  him  a  money 
accumulator,  and,  however  high  an  appreciation  he  may  put  upon  his 
services,  he  is  ever  ready  to  brush  it  all  aside  at  any  cry  of  need,  and 
give  himself  unreservedly,  without  money  and  without  price,  for  the 
relief  of  a  fellow-man. 

Why  then  should  anyone  adopt  surgery  as  a  profession?  Or,  rather, 
why  do  so  many  young  medical  men  at  the  outset  of  their  career  aspire 
to  become  surgeons  ?  While  it  is  true  that  the  influences  that  determine 
the  choice  of  a  profession  or  avocation  of  any  kind  among  men  are  often 
complex,  difficult  to  determine  or  to  estimate,  it  may  be  said,  in  general, 

87 


that  any  choice  is  the  result  of  environment,  aptitude  and  opportunity. 
As  to  the  first  of  these  the  social  atmosphere  is  certainly  now  surcharged 
vnth  a  surgical  element — the  surgeon  has  come  into  his  own!  The 
broadening  of  the  fields  of  surgical  effort  has  opened  new  and  marvellous 
possibilities  to  the  man  who  has  the  aptitude  and  can  secure  the  needed 
training  for  such  work,  and  the  attractions  and  compensations  of  a 
surgeon's  life  have  equally  increased  with  its  possibilities  and  its 
triumphs.  By  compensations  I  do  not  mean  the  money  return,  that  is 
the  least  of  the  rewards  that  wait  upon  surgical  effort.  It  is  in  the 
positiveness  of  the  result  and  the  certainty  that  such  result  is  the  direct 
product  of  the  thing  that  he  himself  has  done  in  which  is  found  the 
first  compensation  for  the  surgeon's  risks  and  responsibilities.  I  do 
not  know  of  anything  that  is  finer,  or  more  certain  to  arouse  the 
enthusiasm  of  a  sensitive  mind,  than,  by  the  application  of  all  the 
diagnostic  resources  of  the  present  day,  added  to  sound  inductive 
reasoning,  to  have  arrived  at  an  opinion  as  to  the  nature  of  an  obscure 
disability  or  disease  in  a  deeply  hidden  region  or  organ  of  the  body 
and  then,  by  a  well-planned  and  skilfully  executed  series  of  operative 
procedures,  unerringly  pass  through  successive  layers  of  tissue  and 
among  vital  organs  in  a  living  body  to  the  point  determined,  and  there 
lay  bare  and  remove  the  offending  substance  or  condition ! 

And  then  to  think  of  the  cases  whom  one  knows  to  have  been  other- 
wise hopelessly  lost,  confronted  by  immediately  impending  death  or 
condemned  to  a  lingering  torture  steadily  progressing  to  a  fatal  end, — 
and  yet  who  by  the  application  of  your  knowledge  and  skill  you  with 
equal  certainty  know  to  have  been  restored  to  health  and  usefulness ! 
It  is  in  the  consideration  of  such  experiences — and  they  are  numerous — 
that  some  of  the  highest  compensations  for  the  trials  of  a  surgeon's 
career  are  found. 

The  ideal  surgeon !  No  wonder  the  world  pays  him  honor !  What- 
ever there  is  of  laborious  research,  whatever  of  judgment  and  caution, 
whatever  of  courage,  of  enthusiasm  and  energy,  whatever  of  tact  and 
reason  and  honesty,  whatever  of  boldness  and  pertinacity,  of  gentleness 
and  fine  consideration,  whatever  of  self-forgetfulness  and  devotion  to 
the  good  of  a  fellow-man  there  may  be,  these  we  see  realized  in  such 
a  man! 

It  cannot  be  other  than  a  source  of  no  little  satisfaction  and  of  some 
justifiable  pride  to  any  man  who  feels  that  he  has  had  any  part  of  the 
surgical  development  of  the  past  fifty  years,  the  most  fruitful  in  progress 
and  achievement  of  all  the  centuries. 

It  is  not  needful  or  pertinent  at  this  time  to  recite  in  any  detail  the 
changes  that  these  years  have  brought  about  in  the  field  of  medicine 
and  surgery.     To  do  them  any  degree  of  justice  would  require  volumes 

88 


for  record  and  days  for  listening.  It  is  of  importance  to  realize, 
however,  by  layman  as  well  as  physician,  and  it  is  proper  for  it  to  be 
recalled  at  this  time  and  in  this  presence  that,  to-day,  because  of  these 
changes,  no  man  leaves  his  domicile  to  engage  in  the  toils  of  shop  or 
office  or  farm  or  to  share  the  opportunities  of  travel  without  enjoying 
a  greater  degree  of  security  of  life  and  a  greater  certainty  of  preser- 
vation from  pain  and  of  speedy  restoration  to  usefulness,  should  accident 
or  disease  overtake  him,  than  did  his  father  fifty  years  ago. 

In  internal  medicine  the  change  has  been  no  less  marked.  Specu- 
lation has  given  way  to  demonstration.  In  the  autopsy  room  and  in  the 
laboratory  an  innumerable  host  of  workers,  animated  by  a  divine 
enthusiasm  for  the  truth,  have  been  searching  for  the  hidden  secrets  of 
life  and  the  causes  of  disease.  An  entirely  new  conception  of  the 
character  of  those  processes  which  constitute  life  has  been  revealed, 
and  a  nearer  approximation  to  ultimate  truth  has  been  reached  in  our 
knowledge  of  what  leads  to  disease  and  of  what  the  meaning  is  of 
those  symptoms  by  means  of  which  we  have  been  wont  to  recognize  it, 
and  of  what  is  needed  to  secure  a  restoration  to  health  of  the  sick 
body  itself.  So  we  are  seeing  creeds  and  sects  in  medicine  fade  away 
and  a  new  generation  of  medical  men  coming  upon  the  arena  of  the 
world's  activities,  tolerant  and  generous,  animated  by  the  one  heaven- 
born  instinct,  a  search  for  the  truth ! 

And  now  to  my  colleagues  of  the  medical  profession  of  Kings  County 
a  special  word.  Although  more  than  forty  years  have  passed  since 
I  began  my  work  among  you  in  Brooklyn,  it  is  a  source  of  great  satis- 
faction to  find  so  many  who  were  then  active  as  physicians  in  this 
community  still  pursuing  their  beneficent  work.  I  may  mention 
William  H.  Bates,  '63,  and  Frederick  W.  Wunderlich,  '64,  with  whom 
I  have  had  the  special  tie  that  a  common  service  in  the  U.  S.  Navy 
gives;  Jonathan  Prout,  most  venerable  of  all,  who,  well  advanced 
into  the  eighties,  is  still  active  and  interested  in  his  fellows ;  Skidmore 
Hendrickson,  who  graduated  in  medicine  the  same  year  as  I  did,  in 
'66;  John  D.  Sullivan,  who  had  been  a  fellow-student  with  me  at  the 
University  of  Michigan  in  '65  and  '66;  and  George  A.  Ostrander, 
'58,  James  R.  Bird,  '58,  J.  Lester  Keep,  '60,  William  A.  DeLong,  '63, 
Nathaniel  Matson,  '64,  Arnold  W.  Catlin,  '65,  Jerome  Walker,  '68, 
Samuel  B.  Childs,  '69,  J.  H.  Steriing,  '69,  A.  Ross  Matheson,  '70,  and 
J.  J.  LaMadrid,  '71,  all  of  whom  were  my  neighbors  and  from  all  of 
whom  I  received  many  kindnesses  in  my  early  venture  among  them  in 
civil  work ;  and  Henry  N.  Read,  '70,  and  John  D.  Rushmore,  '70,  who 
became  members  of  the  Kings  County  Medical  Society  simultaneously 
with  myself,  these  form  an  "  Old  Guard  "  with  whom  I  gladly  share 
the  honors  of  this  evening.     The  changed  and  changing  conditions  of 

89 


professional  work  to-day  have  not  diminished  our  interest  in  the  work 
which  we  assumed  as  young  men,  nor  lessened  our  appreciation  of  the 
high  ideals  of  professional  conduct  and  aims  which  we  received  from 
our  fathers.  The  amount  of  technical  knowledge  required  of  the  physi- 
cian to-day  is  enormously  greater  than  was  required  of  us  when  we 
entered  upon  our  work  here.  The  necessity  of  associating  ourselves 
together  in  groups,  each  member  of  the  group  bringing  to  it  special 
knowledge  in  a  particular  field,  is  becoming  more  apparent  every  day. 
If  we  would  secure  for  men  the  best  that  modern  medicine  can  bring 
them,  such  groups  must  take  an  important  place  in  the  medicine  of  the 
future.  This,  while  it  makes  our  work  more  certain,  will  also  make  it 
more  impersonal,  and  thereby  will  perhaps  deprive  it  of  some  of  the 
finest  characteristics  that  have  attached  heretofore  to  the  closeness  and 
sacredness  of  the  relation  between  physician  and  patient.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  will  remove  much  of  the  occasion  for  oversensitiveness  that 
always  accompanies  intimate  personal  service. 

As  known  to  most  of  those  present,  for  twenty  years  the  more  im- 
portant part  of  my  surgical  work  was  done  in  that  part  of  Brooklyn  of 
which  the  Montauk  Qub  is  the  social  centre.  For  but  a  short  time, 
however,  has  it  been  my  privilege  to  enjoy  a  residence  in  that  most 
attractive  section  of  the  city.  You  have  made  no  stranger  of  me, 
Gentlemen  of  the  Montauk  Club,  and  in  the  honor  which  you  have  done 
me  in  extending  to  me  such  felicitations  at  this  golden  period  of  my 
professional  life,  I  recognize  a  spirit  of  neighborly  kindness  and  of 
appreciation  of  earnest  and  honest  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  humanity 
which  commands  a  most  grateful  response  from  myself.  The  prob- 
lems of  civic  betterment,  of  social  expansion  and  development,  of  the 
regulation  and  stimulation  of  what  shall  be  best  for  city  and  citizen 
alike,  in  all  the  multitude  of  phases  which  the  present  offers  and  the 
future  shall  hold,  may  well  engage  the  constant  and  serious  attention  of 
such  an  influential  body  of  Brooklyn's  citizens,  and  I  shall  always  hope 
to  be  numbered  among  its  active  workers. 

In  a  special  degree  do  I  thank  you  for  the  way  in  which  you  have 
made  me  one  of  yourselves  to-night. 

Finally,  to  my  comrades  of  the  Grand  Army,  who  have  joined  in  this 
evening's  jubilee,  I  return  Greeting  and  Heartfelt  Love.  It  is  more 
than  fifty  years  since,  in  the  enthusiasm  of  youth  and  the  glow  of 
patriotic  ardor,  we  answered  our  country's  call  and  followed  its  flag 
to  preserve  its  integrity.  The  memory  of  those  days  and  the  conscious- 
ness of  a  common  devotion  to  a  high  cause,  for  the  sake  of  which  life 
itself,  if  need  be,  was  to  be  laid  down,  has  formed  a  tie  that  has  bound 
us  together  in  bonds  of  fraternity  than  which  none  earthly  can  be 
stronger.     We  have  since  been  permitted  to  live  through  a  period  of 

90 


our  country's  history,  characterized  by  profound  peace  at  home,  and 
unexampled  material  prosperity.  In  the  midst  of  such  conditions  that 
always  inevitably  make  for  softness  of  individual  character,  for  the 
exaggeration  of  the  value  of  luxury,  for  indolence  and  apathy  as  to 
duty  to  the  State,  it  has  been  the  privilege  and  unremitting  effort  of 
the  Grand  Army  to  keep  burning  the  fire  of  Patriotism  on  the  altar  of 
our  country.  What  a  stirring  among  the  dry  bones  of  unconcern,  of 
self-satisfaction  and  of  pursuit  of  selfish  ease  and  gain  that  were  filling 
the  valleys  of  our  land  do  we  now  hear,  as  the  observation  of  an  old 
world  at  war  and  the  rumblings  from  our  own  Southern  border  warn  the 
citizens  of  the  new  world  that  in  time  they  must  also  meet  the  inevitable, 
and  emphasize  the  importance  of  being  prepared  to  defend  their  firesides 
and  their  ideals. 

Although  "  the  sad  threshold  of  old  age  "  may  separate  some  of  us 
now  from  active  participation  in  the  duties  and  burdens  of  the  responsi- 
bilities of  to-day,  I  know  that  in  the  heart  of  every  old  soldier  of  the 
War  for  the  Union  prevails  the  most  intense  interest  that  adequate  and 
permanent  preparation  be  speedily  made  by  this  nation  that  it  may  be 
able  against  all  comers  ever  to  protect  its  citizens,  no  matter  where 
they  may  be,  on  land  or  sea!  Though  our  years  may  be  many,  my 
comrades,  our  spirits  are  still  youthful,  and  the  flag  which  we  followed 
in  the  sixties  is  still  our  talisman,  and  the  object  of  our  devotion !  Our 
point  of  view,  however,  has  changed.  The  horizon  of  seventy-one 
differs  from  that  of  twenty-one.  We  were  then  animated  by  the  spirit 
of  expectation  and  of  enthusiasm.  We  had  a  glorious  contempt  for 
the  difficulties  of  the  present  and  an  inspiring  hope  for  the  future.  We 
had  unlimited  confidence  in  the  possibilities  of  life,  we  had  trust  in  men, 
we  had  joy  in  friendship.  We  were  dreamers,  conscious  that  all  the 
great  achievements  of  the  past  had  first  entered  the  minds  of  men  as 
dreams.  We  were  enjoying  the  stimulating  rays  of  the  morning  light, 
the  light  that  illumines  the  morning  of  life,  which,  however  faint  at 
first,  we  were  confident  had  the  hues  of  an  aurora  that  with  its  increasing 
rays  was  to  light  up  for  us  the  whole  vault  of  heaven.  Now  at  seventy- 
one,  though  we  may  look  back  on  years  saddened  by  some  unrealized 
hopes  and  expectations,  and  by  the  remembrance  of  many  dreams  that 
have  never  come  true,  years  the  record  of  which  is  punctuated  by  the 
asterisks  that  mark  the  procession  of  comrades  who,  one  by  one,  have 
dropped  by  our  side  during  the  battle  of  life,  nevertheless  the  evening 
sky  is  equally  aglow  with  its  own  sunset  tints.  We  have  enjoyed  much ; 
we  have  transformed  opportunity  into  accomplishment;  we  have  had 
experience,  possession,  satisfaction ;  even  in  some  degree  triumph.  We 
have  no  illusions ;  we  know  that  the  tints  of  the  evening  sky  are  gradually 
and  surely  fading,  but  we  are  content,  we  have  lived ! 

91 


XV 

LIST  OF  THOSE  PRESENT 
AT  THE  JUBILEE  DINNER 


LIST  OF  THOSE  PRESENT  AT  THE 

DINNER  IN  HONOR  OF  LEWIS 

STEPHEN  PILCHER 


Allen,  Herbert  C.  . . . 

Anderson,  C.  A 

Armstrong,  George  E, 
Aten,  William  L.  . . . . 

Atkins,  Chas.  D 

Ayres,  H.  M , 

Ayres,  H.  M.  (Guest) 


Bailey,  Fred  D 

Bailey,  Fred  R.  . . . 
Baird,  Andrew  D.  . 
Baker,  Alfred  E.   . . 

Baker,   P.  J 

Baketel,   H.    S 

Balch,  a.  C 

Baldwin,  L.  Grant 
Ballard,  Cora  M.   . . 

Barron,  W.  H 

Bates,  W.  H 

Bauer,    J.    L 

Bayles,    Wm.    H 

Beach,  Ralph  M 

Beatty,   Geo 

Beck,  A.  W 

Beebe,  Frances  P.  . . 

Beers,  N.  T 

Bell,  Alfred    

Bell,  H.  K 

Benedict,  Charles  S. 
BlEREAUER,   B.  W.    . . . 

Bill,  P.  W 

Bird,  James  R 

Bishop,   Eliot    

Blaisdell,  Silas  H.  . 

Blatteis,  S.  R 

Bliss,  Robert  F 

Block,  Siegfried  . . . 
Blum,  Edward  C.   . . 

Bogart,  a.  H 

BOGART,  J.  B 

BOLGER,    Wm 

Brady,  William  G.  . 


Brant,  Cornelia  D.   . . . 

Brewer,  George  E 

Brinsmade,  W.  B 

Brown,  Frank  E 

Brown,  Geo.  R 

Brown,  S.  S 

Browning,  William   . . . 

Brundage,  a.  H 

Brush,   George   W 

Buchanan,   I.   I 

bulkley,  l.  d 

Butler,  Glent worth  R. 
Butler,   William   E.    . . 


Cadman,  S.  Parkes   . 

Campbell,  W.  F 

Canfield,  J.  F 

Cardwell,  John   A.    . 

Casey,  W.  H 

Chase,  Walter  B.    . . 

Childs,  S.  E 

Clark,  Raymond   . . . . 

Cohen,   Nathan    

COLEY,  W.  B 

Coughlin,  Robert  E. 

Cox,  C.  N 

Crane,  C.  G 

Cross,   F.   B 

Cruikshank,  E.  a.  . 
Cruikshank,  Fred  A. 
Cruikshank,  W.  J.   . 


Da  Costa,  J.  C 

Dana,  Charles  L 

Davis,  W.  H 

Deaver,  John  B 

De  Bevoise,  Charles  I. 

De  Forest,  H.  P 

Delatour,   H.  B 

De  Lorme,  M.  F 

De  Long,  William  A. 
De  Yoanna,  Aurelius 


95 


De  Yoanna,  G 

Dickey,  William  D 

Dickinson,  R.  L 

Dixon,    Thomas    

Douglas,    William    

Downey,  J.  M 

Dudley,  P.  S 

duffield,   w.   l 

Durham,  Roger   

Early,  J.  H 

Eastmond,  a.  H 

Eastmond,  Chas 

Eastmond,  John  E 

Elsberg,  Charles  A 

English,  Wm.  H 

English,  Wm.  H 

Epstean,  Ed 

Evans,  Evan  

Faikbairn,  H.  a 

Feltman,   C.  L 

Figueira,   M 

Finlay,  George  D 

Finley,  John  H 

Fisher,  Henry  A 

FiSKE,   Edwin   H 

FiSKE,  E.  Rodney   

Fleming,  James  W 

Fleury,  George  E 

Fogarty,  John  L 

FosDiCK,  Raymond  B 

Fowler,  Roy  ale  H 

Fowler,  Russell  S 

French,  C.  B 

French,  C.  M 

French,  T.  R 

FuHs,  Jacob    

Gallagher,  Wm 

Gardner,  Chas.  E 

Genthner,  N.  C 

Gerster,   Arpad    G 

Gibney,  V.  P 

Gibson,   Gordon    

GiLDERSLEEVE,     C.     P 

GiLM'ORE,    W.    G 

Gleason,  W.  Stanton  

Goodrich,  Chas.  H 

Goodrich,  Chas.  H.  (Guest) 

Goodwin,  N.   C 

Gordon,  O.  A 


Gordon,  O.  A.  Jr , 

Gordon,  O.  A.  Jr.  (Guest)   ., 
Graham,  H.  F , 

Hale,  Harriet  W , 

Hancock,  James   C 

Harrington,   Bart  D 

Harris,  Burton   : 

Harris,  Thos.  J 

Heitman,   Fred   E 

HOLDEN,  F.   C 

Holmes,  James   E 

HoNAN,  William  F,  

Hopper,  M.  T 

HoRNi,  John 

Howard,   Tasker   

Hubbard,  William  S 

Huffman,   Otto  V 

Huffman,  Otto  V.   (Guest) 

HULSE,    W.    A 

Humpstone,  O.  P 

HuRD,  Henry  M 

Huntington,  Thos.  W 

Ingalls,  James  W 

Ives,   Robert  F 

Jacobi,   Abraham    

Jahne,  Henry  C 

Jameson,   P.   C 

Jennings,  J.  E 

Joerg,   Oswald    

Jonas,  A.  F 

Jonas,  A.  F.    (Guest)    

JUDD,  A.  M 

Keen,  W.  W , 

Keep,  J.  Lester  

Kerr,  LeGrand  

Kevin,  C.  D 

Kevin,  J.  Richard    

Keyes,  J.  J 

King,  S.  T 

Klein,  Abram   

Kline,    Ardolph  

Knight,  Frank  H 

KOERNER,  Wm.  F 

Kruskal,  J,   D 

Lamadrid,  J.  J 

Langworthy,   H.   T 

Lazansky,  Edward   


Le  Conte,  Robert  G. 

Lee,  John  A 

Leeds,    James    

Lewi,  Maurice  J.    

LiNDER,   John    

Linder,  William,   

LiNDRIDGE,    Wm.   E.    .  .  . 

Longstreet,  Robert  N. 

Loud,  George  B 

LouRiA,  Leon  

Lovett,  Geo.  E 

LUDLUM,   W.   D 

Luhrsen,  Ernest  F.    . 

lundbeck,    c 

Lynch^  Leo  A 

MacEvitt,  John  C.  . . 
McCafferty,  James  A. 
McChesney,  H.  F.  ,, 
McDonald,  Edgar  . . . 
McLeer,  J.  Crooke   . . . 

Mangan,   D.   C 

Marshall,  J.  H 

Matheson,  a.  Ross  . . 
Matson,   Nathaniel    . 

Matthews,  H.  B 

Mayne,  E.  H , 

Mayo,  Wm.  J 

Meagher,  J.  F.  W 

Merzbach,   Joseph    

Meyer,  Willy  

Meynen,  George  K.    . . . 

Miller,  George   I 

Mills,  Henry  M'.   

Minton,  Henry  B 

MOOREHEAD,    RoBT.    M.    .. 

Morrison,  R.  J 

MoscHcowiTz,   Alexi.s    . 

Mosher,  B.  B 

MosHER,  B.  B.  (Guest) 

Mosher,    Eliza    

Murphy,  John   

Murphy,  Joseph  P 

Murray,  Archibald    . . . 

Murray,  Foster   

Murray,   Thomas    

Napier,  Charles  D.   . . . 
Nealley,  W.  G 

Onderdonk,  George  A.  . 
O'Reilly,  Miles   


OSTRANDER,    GeORGE   A 

Otis,  F.  B 

Parsons,  Birt  F 

Pascual,  William  V 

Patterson,  Thos.  V 

Pearson,  L.  W 

Peck,  Charles  H 

Peckham,  Wm.  C 

Peele,   Grace  D 

Pendleton,  Judson  P 

Pfeiffer,  William  

PiLCHER,  James  T 

Pilcher,  Lewis  F 

PiLCHER,  Lewis  F.   (Guest) 

Pilcher,  Lewis  S 

Pilcher,  Paul  M 

Platt,  Willard  H 

POLAK,    J.    O 

PoMEROY,  Ralph  H 

Potter,    Mary   E 

Price,  George  A 

Price,  Henry  R 

Price,  Wm.  H .' . 

Prout,  Jonathan    

Ranken,  John  F 

Rankin,  W.  H 

Rathbun,   N.    P 

Reed,   Geo.   Ed 

Reichers,  George  H 

Reynolds,  W.  G 

Riegelman,  Laura  M 

RiscH,  Otto  

Roberts,  D.   R 

Roberts,  John  B 

Robinson,  Nathaniel   

Rogers,  Robert   

Ronalds,  J.  H 

Rush  MORE,  John  D 

Sachs,  B 

Sammis,  E.  F 

Satterthwaite,    Thos 

Sauer,  C.  T 

Sauer,  C.  T.  (Guest)   

Schenck,  H.  D 

SCHMITT,    Mr 

SCHONDELMtelER,    C.    T 

Schwartz,  Leo  S 

scofield,  c.  e 

Search,   Charles  J 


97 


Shaffer,  Newton  M.  

Shepherd,  F.  J 

Sherwood,  W.  A 

Shoop,  F.  J 

SiMiSTER,  James   

Simmons,  E.  A 

Simmons,  Warren  S.  . . 
Simmons,  W.  S.  (Guest) 
Simmons,  W.  S.  (Guest) 

Simmons,    William    

Sloat,  Horace  N 

Smith,  Heman  P , 

Smith,  J.  Foster  

Smith,  W.  S 

SoMERs,  James  A - 

Spence,  T.  B , 

Stapleton,  Luke  D , 

Stewart,  J.  A 

Stickle,  C.  W 

Stone,   C.   L 

Strasser,    Mr , 

Stratton,  William  A.  . . . 

Sturges,  p.  H 

Sullivan,  J.  D , 

Sullivan,  Raymond  P.  . . , 

Summers,  William  

Syms,    Parker 

Tait,  George  F 

Tarbox,  H.  R 

Taylor,  J.  M 

Teale,  Charles  T 

Terrell,  A.   B 

Terry,  W.  R 


Thompson,  Alec  N 

Thompson,  Alec  N.  (Guest) 

Torek,  Franz  

Van  Cott,  J,  M 

Van  Cott,  J.  M.  (Guest)   ... 

Vander  Veer,  A 

Vander  Veer,  Edgar  A.  . . 

Vaughan,  Victor  C 

Walker,  Jerome  

Walker,  John  B 

Warbasse,  James  Peter 

Warren,  Luther  F , 

Waterman,  James  S 

Waugh,  D.  W , 

Webb,  J.  B 

Webster,  H.  G 

Wesenberg,  Paul  E , 

Westbrook,  R.  W , 

Wight,  J.  Sherman  , 

Williams,  Herbert  F 

Williams,  John  G 

Wilson,  A , 

Wilson,  Christopher  W.  . . . . 

Wilson,  Frank  E , 

Winfield,  J.  M 

WoLFSON,  William   

Wood,  H.  H 

Wood,  J.  Scott 

Wood,  Walter  C 

Wooden,  M.  E 

Woolsey,  Wm.  C 

Wright,  E 

Wunderlich,  F.  W 


APPENDIX 


XVI 

SOME  OF  THE  FINER  CHARACTERISTICS 
OF  THE  MEDICAL  LIFE  AND  THE  INFLU- 
ENCES THAT  MAKE  FOR  THEM.  AN  AD- 
DRESS DELIVERED  BY  INVITATION  OF 
THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  LONG  ISLAND 
COLLEGE  HOSPITAL  BEFORE  THE  STU- 
DENTS OF  THAT  INSTITUTION,  MARCH  28, 
1916,  BY  DR.  LEWIS  STEPHEN  PILCHER, 
IN  THE  MORNING  OF  THE  FIFTIETH 
ANNIVERSARY  OF  HIS  ENTRANCE  INTO 
THE  PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE 


SOME  OF  THE  FINER  CHARACTERIS- 
TICS OF  THE  MEDICAL  LIFE  AND  THE 
INFLUENCES  THAT  MAKE  FOR  THEM 

Gentlemen:  It  is  an  important  and  unquestioned  truth  that  the 
greatest  thing  which  a  student  takes  from  a  class-room  is  not  the  facts 
which  he  may  have  learned  there,  but  the  spirit  which  he  may  have 
imbibed  there.  The  great  value  of  a  university  education  consists  not  in 
the  details  of  knowledge  which  it  may  communicate  to  a  student,  but  in 
the  interest  in  knowledge  which  it  has  awakened  and  in  the  ideas  that  are 
conveyed  of  how  knowledge  is  to  be  gained  and  to  what  use  it  is  to  be 
put.  If  this  were  not  so,  the  tutor  and  the  quiz-master  would  be  far 
greater  personages  in  the  intellectual  world  than  the  thinker,  the  savant 
and  the  magister,  the  man  with  the  capacity  for  details  than  the  one  who, 
grasping  broad  principles,  enjoys  wide  visions  and  ambitions  for  high 
endeavor. 

One  of  the  advantages  of  the  preceptorship  and  apprentice  systems 
in  the  medical  training  of  former  years  was  the  prolonged  and  close 
companionship  which  the  system  called  for  between  the  young  student 
and  the  mature  practitioner.  Many  things  the  younger  man  learned  from 
the  elder  besides  diagnosis  and  practice.  Especially  must  he  have  been 
impressed  by  the  professional  spirit  of  his  master  in  whatever  degree  it 
was  possessed  by  him,  for  it  is  chiefly  as  such  a  spirit  is  incarnated  in  a 
living  man  that  it  is  impressed  and  perpetuated.  This  truth  is  well  illus- 
trated in  what  we  call  the  religious  spirit,  for  do  we  not  know  that  it  is 
only  when  this  spirit  is  presented  to  us  concretely  in  a  living  individual 
that  it  produces  an  impression  ?  What  are  all  the  teachings  and  methods 
of  the  religions  of  the  world  but  an  exemplification  of  the  truth  of  this 
statement  ? 

The  high  esprit  de  corps  of  any  body  of  men,  family  spirit,  national 
spirit,  patriotism  in  all  its  manifestations,  is  but  an  expression  of  this 
same  influence.  The  ideal  is  embodied  in  a  man  and,  lo,  a  hero,  a 
prophet,  a  saint  is  created  and  a  world-spirit  is  engendered  or  changed 
because  a  man  has  lived ! 

Medicine,  too,  has  had  its  heroes,  prophets  and  saints  who  have  left 
a  permanent  impress  upon  mankind,  whose  lives  in  varying  degrees 
remain  as  models  for  their  successors  to  imitate  and  the  study  of  whose 
characters,  lives  and  works  is  a  most  potent  inspiration  to  the  men  of  the 

103 


present  day  and  a  most  valuable  safeguard  against  assaults  of  the  crass 
materialism  and  commercialism  with  which  our  modern  life  is  so 
strongly  tinctured. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  it  is  true  that  in  America  the  conditions 
are  such  as  to  give  an  especially  dominating  influence  to  the  business  side 
of  medical  life.  Let  us  not  blind  our  eyes  to  the  facts  that  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic  the  absence  of  permanent  class  distinctions,  the  want  of 
traditions  strengthened  by  time  and  usage,  the  rapid  development  and 
extension  of  population  and  of  large  business  interests,  giving  undue 
prominence  to  vigor  and  hustle  and  push  in  the  affairs  of  life  and 
relegating  to  a  minor  place  the  things  that  make  for  grace  and  courtesy, 
art  and  refinement,  the  rawness  and  newness  of  much  of  our  social  state, 
the  importance  of  immediate  material  success  to  be  secured  by  the 
special  activity  of  the  individual,  the  small  place  for  the  hereditary 
influence  of  transmitted  position  and  spirit, — all  these  things  and  many 
more  that  might  be  enumerated  really  do  tend  to  accentuate  among  us 
as  a  people  the  commercial  spirit,  the  gospel  of  hustle  and  of  material 
success.  Since  the  character  and  attainments  of  the  physicians  of  any 
age  or  nation  are  always  determined  by  and  reflect  the  average  char- 
acter and  attainments  of  the  people  from  whom  they  spring  and  among 
whom  they  labor  and  a  part  of  whom  they  are,  it  follows  inevitably  that 
the  physicians  of  this  land  cannot  escape  wholly  the  commercial  spirit  of 
the  age  and  the  methods  of  individual  push  which  dominate  their 
environment.  What  should  not  be  overlooked,  however,  is  that  on  the 
other  hand,  here  as  elsewhere,  in  the  pursuit  of  medical  study  and 
practice,  there  are  special  refining  and  elevating  influences  which  are 
continually  and  insensibly  moulding  the  characters  of  medical  men,  so 
that  in  America,  quite  as  much  as  in  other  lands,  in  their  maturity,  as  a 
class,  they,  least  of  all  classes,  present  the  picture  of  selfish  greed  and 
absorption  in  money  getting. 

Accepting,  therefore,  the  fact  that  there  are  special  conditions  in- 
herent in  our  twentieth  century  surroundings  which  do  tend  to  blunt 
the  finer  aspects  of  medical  life  among  us,  it  would  seem  to  be  especially 
important  that  hereafter  in  the  training  of  our  medical  men,  more 
marked  emphasis  than  ever  before  should  be  put  on  all  those  things  and 
influences  which  may  serv^e  to  antidote  such  commercializing  tendency ; 
that  liberalizing  influences  should  be  sought  out,  developed  and  nurtured, 
so  that  to  the  robustness,  vigor,  practicalness,  earnestness,  aggressiveness 
and  open-mindedness,  which  are  the  characteristics  of  American  man- 
hood in  general,  there  may  be  added  in  the  physician  such  finer  qualities 
as  a  high  spirit  of  serv^ice  to  his  fellow-men  because  they  need  it  rather 
than  because  they  can  pay  for  it,  of  fraternity,  of  culture,  devotion  to 
duty,  self-forgetfulness,  thirst  for  knowledge  and  regard  for  absolute 

104 


truth,  producing  by  the  combination  a  type  of  physicians  the  highest,  as 
a  class,  the  world  has  ever  known.  That  such  men  abound  among  us 
even  now,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  asserting.  They  can  be  found  in  every 
community  to  the  honor  of  our  profession  and  the  credit  of  our  common 
humanity.  Such  has  certainly  been  the  case  in  the  past ;  it  remains  our 
duty  to  secure  its  continuance  in  the  future. 

If  what  I  have  just  said  is  true,  then  the  study  of  and  familiarity 
with  the  careers  of  those  men,  who  in  the  past  have  especially  exem- 
plified in  an  eminent  degree  the  finer  characteristics  of  the  medical  life, 
must  be  a  most  important  part  of  this  liberalizing  culture. 

The  consideration  of  the  struggles  and  achievements  of  other  men 
has  meant  more  to  most  men  who  have  contributed  to  the  progress  of 
the  world  than  anything  else.  The  contemplation  of  the  life  of  a  great 
man  has  two  distinct  results — it  gives  faith  in  times  of  discouragement ; 
it  tends  to  the  creation  of  higher  ideals. 

It  leads  naturally  to  hero  worship ;  a  hero  is  an  ideal  embodied  in  a 
man;  one  is  inspired  to  imitate  his  virtues,  to  adopt  his  aims  and  to 
fashion  one's  life  on  the  pattern  of  which  he  is  the  model 

Hence,  the  value  to  the  physician  of  a  knowledge  of  medical  history 
and  especially  of  that  phase  of  it  which  has  to  do  with  the  lives  an;d 
cliaracters  of  its  great  men.  One  need  not  go  to  the  ancients,  to 
^sculapius,  Hippocrates,  Galen  and  Celsus  for  one's  heroes,  nor  even 
so  far  back  as  Vesalius  and  Pare  and  Gui  de  Chauliac,  nor  to  the  later 
Harvey,  Sydenham  and  Boerhaave,  but  in  our  own  day  and  time,  even 
in  our  own  generation,  we  can  and  do  find  lives  dwelling  upon  which 
one  can  realize  the  truth  of  the  proverb  that  "  as  one  lamp  lights 
another,  nor  grows  less,  so  nobleness  enkindleth  nobleness." 

The  statue  of  Joseph  Warren  on  Bunker  Hill,  the  obelisk  in  memory 
of  Ephraim  McDowell  in  Danville,  Kentucky,  the  statues  of  Samuel  D. 
Gross  and  of  Benjamin  Rush  in  Washington,  of  William  Pepper  in 
Philadelphia,  of  Hunter  McGuire  in  the  grounds  of  the  State  Capitol  at 
Richmond,  Virginia,  of  Benjamin  Silliman  in  New  Haven,  and  of 
Marion  Sims  in  Bryant  Park,  New  York  City,  and  the  bust  of  Alexander 
J.  C.  Skene,  a  name  ever  illustrious  in  these  halls,  with  its  backgroimd 
of  marble  opposite  the  entrance  to  Prospect  Park  in  Brooklyn — con- 
templation of  these  cannot  fail  to  arouse,  in  the  minds  of  young  men 
who  are  entering  the  profession  which  they  adorned,  sentiments  of  the 
loftiest  character.  Medicine  in  America  is  already  rich  in  the  possession 
of  such  men.  To  these  names  could  be  added  many  more  who,  though 
their  merits  have  not  been  commemorated  by  marble  and  bronze,  are 
equally  worthy  of  honor  and  remembrance,  and  a  knowledge  of  whose 
work  and  character  would  ever  awaken  sentiments  of  admiration  and 
emulation  in  men  of  the  same  calling.    I  count  it  among  the  greatest 

105 


privileges  of  my  life  that  I  have  known  so  many  of  them.  Even  of 
those  I  have  mentioned  by  name,  I  knew  personally  Gross,  Pepper, 
McGuire,  Sims  and  Skene,  and  some  of  them  I  have  had  reason  to 
esteem  as  my  friends.  I  speak  feelingly,  therefore,  when  I  urge  upon 
the  attention  of  my  younger  colleagues  the  attainment  of  a  knowledge  of 
the  character,  spirit  and  aims  of  the  leaders  of  the  past,  as  an  heritage 
of  the  greatest  value  in  creating  in  them  the  spirit  which  should  char- 
acterize their  own  careers. 

I  pass  on  now  to  the  second  of  the  elements  which  I  would  present 
as  of  value  in  the  training  of  medical  men — familiarity  with  the  litera- 
ture of  medicine.  The  library  of  a  physician  should  include  other 
things  than  journals  and  medical  text-books,  vade  mecums  and  manuals. 
These  are  important  and  invaluable  in  their  place.  They  are  the  daily 
bread  and  working  tools  of  the  physician  and  are  to  be  kept  in  con- 
stant use.  Their  value,  however,  is  but  a  present  and  ephemeral  one ; 
those  of  yesterday  are  supplanted  by  those  of  to-day,  and  these  in  turn 
will  give  place  to  those  of  to-morrow.  Those  books  which  contribute 
to  culture  and  a  familiarity  with  which  exerts  an  elevating  influence 
on  the  scholar  have  a  wider  and  more  permanent  interest.  In  the 
fields  of  history  and  biography,  in  discussions  of  medical  life  and  ideals, 
in  essays,  even  in  poetry  and  romance,  they  tend  to  awaken  lofty  senti- 
ment, to  broaden  views  of  life,  to  introduce  a  more  correct  perspective 
into  one's  estimates  as  to  the  value  of  present  things,  and  to  create  in 
the  student  a  mental  attitude  which  makes  him  more  worthy  to  be 
classed  as  a  member  of  a  learned  profession,  rather  than  the  mere 
practitioner  of  a  useful  trade. 

There  are  certain  great  works  and  writings  v/hich  mark  in  a 
special  manner  the  progress  of  medicine.  These  have  a  permanent 
interest  not  only  as  memorials  but  still  more  as  historical  records  of 
the  development  of  medical  knowledge.  No  man  can  be  considered  a 
medical  scholar  who  does  not  know  about  them,  their  place  in  literature, 
and  the  part  which  their  writers  played  in  the  evolution  of  medicine, 
although  he  may  not  read  in  detail  the  books  themselves.  Such  are  the 
books  of  Hippocrates,  of  Celsus  and  Galen  among  the  ancients;  of 
Avenzoar  and  of  Avicenna  among  the  Arabians;  of  Mundinus  and 
Gui  de  Chauliac,  marking  the  class  of  the  Dark  Ages  and  the  beginning 
of  the  Renaissance  in  anatomy  and  in  surgery;  of  the  Regimen  Sani- 
tatis  Salemi,  preserving  the  memory  of  the  great  mediaeval  medical 
school  at  Salernum;  of  Benivieni,  the  morning  star  of  pathology;  of 
Berengarius  da  Carpi,  who  demonstrated  the  practical  use  of  illustra- 
tions in  anatomical  treatises ;  of  Vesalius,  the  Flemish  knight-errant  of 
anatomy  who  revolutionized  that  department  of  medicine  and  made  his 
name  immortal  before  he  was  thirty  years  of  age;  of  Paracelsus  the 

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medical  iconoclast ;  of  Pare,  the  practical  thinker  and  wise  constructor 
in  surgery ;  of  Harvey,  the  devoted  Royalist,  who  first  grasped  the  idea 
and  demonstrated  the  fact  of  the  perpetual  circuit  of  the  blood;  of 
Sydenham,  the  grim  puritan,  the  English  Hippocrates ;  of  Boerhaave, 
whose  aphorisms,  and  of  Albinus,  whose  plates,  marked  the  high  point 
of  the  Dutch  school  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  and  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century;  the  books  of  Cheselden,  of  Monro  and  of 
Hunter,  signalling  the  rise  of  the  English  school  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

These  are  by  no  means  all  the  names  worthy  of  being  mentioned 
in  this  connection,  but  I  content  myself  with  these  few  examples  of 
what  I  mean  now  to  enforce.  These  are  great  mountain  peaks  of  the 
medical  world  that  stand  out  the  more  clearly  as  a  wider  historical 
horizon  is  attained.  Familiarity  with  the  careers  of  such  men  and 
knowledge  of  such  books  should  early  be  brought  into  the  experience 
of  every  medical  student. 

Even  more  fruitful  for  medical  culture  and  delightful  for  moments 
of  relaxation  from  strenuous  material  effort  is  the  field  of  medical  his- 
tory and  medical  biography.  The  most  attractive  and  inspiring  field 
is  that  presented  by  medical  biography.  Here  the  field  is  illimitable 
and  reaches  every  age  and  land.  I  will  mention  as  examples  the  spark- 
ling essays  of  Sir  Benjamin  Ward  Richardson,  entitled  "  Disciples  of 
^sculapius  " ;  the  many  charming  biographical  essays  of  Osier ;  the 
volumes  containing  the  work  of  the  Charaka  Club,  and  the  series  of 
volumes  published  by  Longmans,  Green  and  Company,  entitled  "Masters 
in  Medicine,"  having  as  their  subjects  John  Hunter,  William  Harvey, 
Edward  Jenner,  Sir  James  Simpson,  Herman  von  Helmholtz,  William 
StokeSy  Claude  Bernard,  Sir  Benjamin  Brodie,  Thomas  Sydenham  and 
Andreas  Vesalius. 

Around  the  personalities  of  such  men  as  Vesalius,  Pare,  Harvey 
and  John  Hunter  there  has  gathered  a  large  amount  of  historical  and 
biographical  material  that  is  of  intense  interest.  I  can  imagine  nothing 
more  stimulating  or  elevating  to  the  young  physician  than  to  become 
immersed  in  the  study  of  such  records.  It  is  sure  to  result  in  a  sort 
of  hero-worship.  But  are  not  all  men  with  enthusiasm  hero- worship- 
pers ?  And  do  not  the  characteristics  of  the  heroes  men  worship  become 
reflected  to  some  degree  in  the  worshippers  themselves  ? 

And  now  in  conclusion,  a  word  to  these  young  men  who  have 
chosen  the  practice  of  medicine  as  a  calling,  and  are  now  fitting  them- 
selves to  enter  upon  it.  What  is  it  ?  I  would  say  that  in  its  highest 
development  it  is  a  possession.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  a  medical 
instinct  as  positive  and  compelling  in  its  influence  on  the  man  as  is 
the  artistic,  the  musical,  or  the  inventive  instinct,  or  that  of  spiritual 

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ministry  on  those  thus  endowed.  Not  all  who  practise  medicine  are 
driven  by  it,  nor  do  all  of  those  influenced  by  it  have  it  in  equal  degree. 
It  is  an  instinct  which  makes  the  problems  of  health  and  disease  of 
supreme  interest.  It  makes  the  drudgeries  and  responsibilities  of  prac- 
tice to  be  full  of  pleasure — a  reward  to  its  possessors.  To  those  who 
have  it  not,  the  peculiar  trials  and  duties  of  the  medical  profession 
seem  repellant,  and  the  higher  aims  and  aspirations  of  its  votaries  are 
incomprehensible.  It  has  little  in  common  with  the  ordinary  ideas  and 
methods  of  commercial  life,  and,  tried  by  the  standards  of  the  business 
world,  its  ideals  seem  visionary  and  fanciful. 

Possessed  by  this  instinct,  the  student  is  carried  through  all  the 
peculiar  and  prolonged  conditions  of  his  preparatory  work;  possessed 
by  this  instinct,  the  young  practitioner  is  sustained  through  the  labors, 
the  responsibilities,  the  trials,  which  attend  the  full  development  of  his 
work.  Possessed  by  this  instinct,  the  aged  physician,  as  his  declining 
years  bring  him  down  towards  the  close  of  his  career,  looks  back  with 
intense  satisfaction  upon  the  work  which  he  has  done  for  his  fellow- 
men,  and  finds  himself  universally  acclaimed  by  all  his  fellow-citizens 
as  a  benefactor  of  mankind. 

John  Brown,  the  author  of  "  Rab  and  His  Friends,"  has  proposed 
six  Latin  words  in  which  to  sum  up  what  the  practice  of  medicine 
requires  from  those  who  would  bear  to  men  the  gifts  which  it 
offers.  May  I  recite  them  to  you  ?  These  are,  first,  verax — he  must  be 
true,  sincere  and  honest;  second,  capax-^he  must  be  capable,  well- 
trained  and  equipped ;  third,  sagax — he  must  be  wise  and  sagacious  in 
his  judgment  of  men  and  in  his  applications  of  means  to  ends ;  fourth, 
perspicax — ^he  must  be  gifted  with  insight,  an  insight  the  result  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  processes  of  life,  the  signs  of  diseases,  and  the  pecul- 
iarities of  men;  fifth,  eMcax — ^he  must  be  efficient  in  his  application  of 
knowledge,  with  knowledge  ever  at  hand  ready  for  use,  mind,  heart  and 
hand  working  together  for  a  common  aim ;  sixth,  tenax — insistent  and 
positive^  tenacious  of  truth  as  it  has  been  revealed  to  him. 

Verax,  capax,  sagax,  perspicax,  efficax,  tenax — these  are  the  cardinal 
points  of  the  medical  compass  by  which  the  physician  may  surely  be 
guided  across  the  limitless  and  trackless  sea  of  professional  life  to  the 
harbor  of  success  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  great  purpose  for  the 
relief  of  men,  and  for  the  attainment  of  a  final  reward  in  the  love  and 
esteem  of  his  fellows. 


"^ 


"^^  -     \  V  Vc\t  fe>^. 


